Backyard apartments aim to ease Columbus housing shortage
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Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
Columbus may soon allow residents to turn their backyard garages and carriage houses into independent apartments.
Why it matters: Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) like these could be a small, but useful step toward easing Columbus' housing shortage.
- Columbus City Council member Otto Beatty says they would provide affordable options for seniors and young adults, two groups increasingly in need of housing.
Driving the news: Beatty is spearheading a push to change zoning codes to allow for ADUs without the current "series of zoning variances" required in most neighborhoods, which he says can be lengthy and expensive.
- City staff held its first public hearing on the topic July 22.
How it works: The proposed changes are still being drafted, but would broadly allow for dwellings that provide "complete independent living facilities," including living, sleeping, cooking and sanitation.
- ADUs are already allowed downtown, in Franklinton and some mixed-use districts, but would be expanded across all residential areas.
- They would need to be smaller than the main houses, no more than 65% of the main home's floor area or 1,000 square feet.
- Only backyard ADUs would be allowed — none would be permitted on the front or side of a house.
Case in point: Beatty tells Axios he was inspired to start researching ADUs when they became a solution for his mother (not to be confused with his stepmother, U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty).
- His sister lived in Gahanna, which allows ADUs, and the family hired an architect to convert the garage into an ADU apartment.
- "It's worked out extremely well," he says.
The big picture: Beatty's push comes as bipartisan legislation seeks to allow the Department of Housing and Urban Development to insure second mortgages for homeowners financing ADUs.
Zoom out: For inspiration, Columbus has looked at other cities' ADU regulations approved between 2019-2023 — they've been adopted in Denver, Seattle, San Antonio and Arizona in recent years.
- Senior-oriented nonprofit AARP touts the ability of ADUs to "expand housing options for people of all ages" and provides resources about them.
- In Ohio, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton and many smaller communities already permit them.
Yes, but: Beatty says concerns about ADUs being used for controversial short-term rentals (like Airbnb or Vrbo) have been the main source of feedback so far.
- He expects language prohibiting that use to be added to the next draft.
What's next: Another public hearing is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 10, with a potential vote by city council in November.