Salem Passes ADU Ordinance
April 26th at 8:47am.
The Salem City Council voted 7-4 to pass the Affordable Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance. The ordinance allows homeowners who live on the property as their primary residence to construct ADU’s by-right (without need for a special permit).
This is the third consecutive year that the City Council has voted on an ADU Ordinance. In 2019 and 2020, those ADU Ordinances failed to pass on 7-4 votes. The Governor's Housing Choice legislation has now lowered the requirement to a simple majority (50%) instead of a super majority (66%) which allowed the ordinance to pass this year.
The ordinance allows for by-right construction of ADUs within the principal structure of a property or attached to the principal structure within zoning setbacks. However, to obtain the building permit the ordinance also mandates a rental control measure limiting rent to 70% of HUD Fair Market Value.
Councilor McCarthy had a late file to have an 18-month review to report on how many ADUs are created by the ordinance, which was sent to committee. NSR will also monitor the effectiveness of this ordinance for Salem homeowners.
