In September, the Campbell County Planning and Zoning Commission approved zoning amendments to allow accessory dwelling units, also known as ADUs, in certain county zones.
With that approval, the commission included conditional uses; however, Campbell County Planning and Zoning Director Cindy Minter said some additional items had come forward since their last discussion, requiring some adjustments.
The county only focused on Residential-Rural Estate and Agricultural-One zones in unincorporated Campbell County. Minter said they are not looking at anything in any of the cities.
“We heard almost immediately from two major utility companies that said, hey, we want to give you some feedback. We’re not sure that we can or how to implement all the conditions put on it,” Minter said.
ADUs are separate dwelling units on the same lot as a stand-alone detached single-family home. They are becoming more popular nationwide as families seek a separate space for their adult children, aging relatives, etc.
The commission approved the ADUs in the Residential-Rural Estate and Agricultural-One zones in September without restricting the minimum acreage. Then, they identified concerns about multifamily, long-term rentals, independent utilities, transitional housing, family to non-family, parking, financing, subservient structures, and short-term rentals needing conditional use.
Minter said an issue with making independent utilities a conditional use was that most farms in the county are on private septic systems, especially when they are on five-plus acres. She said they don’t have a sanitary sewer line running directly to the household.
“If the buildings are truly independent and they’re not touching each other in all sincerity, they would likely have to have two separate septic systems,” Minter said. “So, the condition that you put on there that they had to share utilities can’t be done with a septic system.”
They had similar comments with water and electric meters, Minter said, about them needing to be separate meters if they’re different structures.
The updated conditional uses from Tuesday’s meeting are:
- The lot shall consist of a minimum of five continuous acres with a primary dwelling unit
- The ADU shall be limited to one unit and subordinate in area, extent, and purpose to the primary dwelling unit.
- The total living space of the ADU shall not exceed 1,000 square feet.
- The primary dwelling unit and ADU must share the same driveway encroachment.
- Sufficient off-street parking must be provided for use on the lot. A paved parking pad must be provided for the ADU.
- The driveway apron must be paved for a minimum of 12 feet.
- The unit may not be used for a home-based business.
- The unit may not be held out to the public or used for short or long-term rentals.
The previously named conditional uses can be found here.
Minter said the revisions are not intended to replace the agricultural cluster development, which would allow up to five separate parcels on a farm in exchange for agricultural conservancy.
Fort Thomas Resident Frank Twehues spoke during the September meeting supporting the ADUs. He sent a written comment to the planning commission on Tuesday regarding the updated conditional uses.
“I would like to voice my support for the proposed text amendments to the zoning ordinance,” Twehues said in his written comment. “I am excited about the possibilities that this text amendment can offer my family. It provides us with the option of constructing a detached carriage house and keeping my mom close by on the same piece of property that she loves.”
Twehues ended his remarks by asking the planning commission to approve the text amendments.
Silver Grove resident John Fessler, a Campbell County Board of Adjustments member, asked that the ADU’s size not exceed the size of the primary dwelling.
Staff said that concern was covered by the second conditional use listed.
