Southgate City Building. Photo by Haley Parnell | LINK nky

Southgate is considering allowing accessory dwelling units, also known as ADUs on a case-by-case basis.

ADUs are separate dwelling units on the same lot as a stand-alone detached single-family home. The Campbell County Planning and Zoning Commission approved zoning amendments last September to allow ADUs in two county zones: the Residential-Rural Estate and Agricultural-One Zones, the county’s largest lot-sized zones. 

Now, looking at the county’s urban areas, the planning commission approved the zoning text amendments to allow ADUs to be used conditionally, meaning it will be approved on a case-by-case basis by the county’s board of adjustments.

The item still needs to be approved by the Southgate City Council for final approval.

“There’s a lot of times where we don’t have the ability to add new lots into our area, and we’re finding more and more the demand for that multi-generational in particular,” Minter said. “We’ve gotten regular requests for ‘Hey, you know, we’d like for mom and dad and all the siblings or the children to reside on the same plot.”

Some considerations are that the ADUs may have their own entrance but must have indoor accessibility from the main area of the house. The suite must share the same address, utilities, and deeded ownership. It may not be used as an apartment for short-term or long-term rentals. Buildings with secondary suites must remain under one ownership and address, and they may not receive separate utilities.

The planning commission examined changes to the definitions in Southgate’s laws. The definition added to Southgate’s law was “An accessory dwelling unit that provides independent living facilities from a primary dwelling unit but resides on the same parcel as the primary dwelling unit.”

This will be considered a conditional use in the single-family residential zones in Southgate.

Those conditions include:
  • One ADU, either attached or detached, is permitted per single-family unit per lot.
  • The ADU shall be smaller in area, extent and purpose than the primary unit.
  • The maximum ADU size is 800 square feet or 30% of the gross floor area of the main structure—whichever is greater.

Location requirements:

  • For an attached ADU, the yard or setback requirement of the main structure must be met. The attached ADU must be located on the side or in the backyard of the main structure.
  • For a detached ADU, the yard or setback requirements of an accessory structure must be met. The detached ADU must be located to the side or in the back of the main structure.

ADU access:

  • For an attached ADU, an exterior staircase used to access a second-story or higher ADU will not be located on the front façade of the structure.
  • For a detached ADU, the exterior pedestrian entrance must be located facing the main structure or side yard.

Maximum height:

  • For an attached and detached ADU, the maximum height will not exceed the height of the main structure.

Other conditional uses include:

  • The unit shall not be used for a home-based business.
  • The unit may not be held out to the public for short or long-term rentals.
  • The primary unit and the ADU must share the same driveway encroachment.
  • One paved parking pad or one garage space will be provided for the ADU.
  • The owner of the property must reside in the primary unit or ADU.

“Like many of these text amendments, I look around the state for guidance and some of the like 800 square feet and 30% rule I’m getting from Louisville,” said Campbell County Principal Planner Kirk Hunter. “Some of these other things, like the ADU access, I’m also getting from Louisville. They spent a lot of time working on their ADU regulations a couple of years ago with a thoughtful approach.”

Hunter said he also looked at the county’s regulations for the rural parts, such as the no-home-based business and no-short—or long-term rental rules, which were developed last year.

“In Southgate, there are long-term rental houses,” said Campbell County Planning Commission member Justin Verst. “My concern would be if that person renting that house—they may have been there for 10 years renting that house, they would not be permitted to have a relative in the accessory dwelling unit because they’re renting.”

Hunter said allowing that could potentially open a bag of worms with how little short-term rentals are regulated. Ultimately, Verst said he was ok with the way the law was written, and if Southgate finds that they have many residents in long-term rentals who also want to use ADUs, they can address that.

Haley is a reporter for LINK nky. Email her at hparnell@linknky.com Twitter.