Photo courtesy George DeLuca

by George DeLuca

Last night, the Lowell City Council Neighborhood Subcommittee met in front of a nearly full Mayor’s Reception Room at City Hall to discuss the question of whether Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) should be allowed in the city.

The subcommittee got an earful from residents in opposition (or neutral) who testified to having noticed the clandestine creation of makeshift ADUs already in progress (or completed) and clearly visible from the windows of their own homes. When pressed by Councilors Rita Mercier and Eric Gitschier to inform them of the locations, each speaker refused, citing that doing so would result in innocent people being forced out of their housing and into the streets.

Clearly uncomfortable with the revelations, Councilor Gitschier mulled punting by proffering the idea of placing the question of allowing legal ADUs on a nonbinding referendum ballot to let the public decide. Councilor Mercier asked her colleague why he didn’t propose a binding referendum. After all, we live in a democracy, right? Hmm.

So, now we know why ADUs will not be allowed in Lowell, at least not in the near future.

In the old days, city inspectors drove the streets like beat cops looking for unscrupulous property owners trying to skirt the books by adding illicit accessory dwelling units to their properties. Some cities have their inspectors comb their neighborhoods in an effort to track down such violators and bring them to justice. It’s in those municipalities that you will find ADUs legally allowable and—as a result of the due diligence of their inspectors, i.e., enforcement officers—in harmony with the rest of the community.

But in Lowell, it seems there’s a shortage of inspectors and compliance officers, which leaves the current staff overworked and, apparently, overwhelmed. So, the current opposition (or neutrality) to the thought of approving ADUs is a message to the city to start policing the existing housing stock before adding new initiatives that will just create more opportunities for exploitation by quasi-developers.

(to be continued …)