by Nicole Bradford
After more changes regarding the future of accessory dwelling units in the city, Pearland City Council on Monday gave final approval to the comprehensive plan, a future planning document more than a year in the making.
Uncomfortable with language regarding how the city would address accessory dwelling units, councilman Joseph Koza made a successful motion to add a stipulation to “create a city council appointed focus group to develop recommendations for middle market housing regulations.”
Currently, in Pearland, accessory dwelling units need a conditional use permit in residential zoning but are allowed by right everywhere else.
Koza has said it isn’t the original intention — creating a private place for the elderly, disabled, or other family members — that worries him when it comes to adding living units onto single-family lots.
“It’s what comes in behind you,” he said. “When it sells, that’s where it has the propensity to take this from single family to multifamily.”
An earlier discussion of the plan resulted in tweaks in language regarding accessory dwelling units, designating that as the city addresses zoning and codes, accessory units “would be studied further to provide where we would permit those within certain districts or not,” City Manager Trent Epperson said.
An upcoming rewrite of the city’s development code will reveal when, how, and where dwelling units, sometimes called mother-in-law units, are allowed.
Accessory dwelling units are defined by having a separate, full kitchen.
