The Yuma City Council has decided to pull back on an ordinance concerning accessory dwelling units.
The council unanimously approved a motion to table the second reading during last week’s regular meeting. All six current members were in attendance, Mayor Tim McClung, Mayor Pro-tem Jerome Benish, Dan Baucke, Marc Shay, Terri Frame and Vanessa Dischner. There is one opening on the council that will need to be filled by appointment. Benish, Frame and Dischner will be going off the council next month, after not running for re-election during last week’s mail-in election.
The decision on the accessory dwelling unit ordinance was made after hearing from community members during the public hearing prior to the second reading.
A moratorium on accessory dwelling units will expire early next month.
McClung began the public hearing by providing some background on why the city was considering the ordinance. He said there had been incidences in which people got a building permit for a roof on their garage, and it ended up being a separate living space. The mayor said it was impacting parking, sewer and water. He added the city did not have a process in place for oversight on accessory dwelling unit construction, so a moratorium was enacted while the city attorney drafted an ordinance.
City Manager Eric Duthie also spoke up, sharing that a citizen voiced a concern to him that the ordinance does not provide oversight into how the utilities are installed. Duthie said he was looking into that, and the ordinance could be amended later if needed.
However, it ended up being tabled anyway.
Tom Parks did most of the talking during the public hearing. He said Yuma already has housing issues when it comes to availability and affordability. Parks said the ordinance would reduce availability and not help at all with affordability.
He shared there is a unit behind his house that would never pass the ordinance. He said there are families with dependent adult children that can provide everyone some privacy with a separate space, but not needing the full requirements as laid out in the ordinance.
Parks said he thinks there are some good intentions in the ordinance, such as all units should be permitted and built to code.
“The rest is just excessive,” he said.
He said it is unnecessary for ADUs to be at least 500 square feet, needing a full kitchen, and having a separate paved parking spot.
“You are infringing on our ability to take care of our dependent children,” Parks told the council. “As for property rights, you are infringing on an owner’s right to earn extra income.
“I strong urge you to vote ‘no’ on this ordinance, take it back to the drawing board and get something the people of Yuma can live with,” he concluded.
Patricia Brewster-Willeke addressed the council. She said she lives in a cottage by a main home on S. Main St. She said she never could have moved back to Yuma without such an affordable living space available. Brewster-Willeke said she feels such units can be done in as little as 200 square feet, and that 500 square feet would make it too expensive for many. She said the city needs to look at the housing situation in Yuma, keep in mind it is a low-income community, and need to be aware of what people can afford.
The council discussed it then for a bit. Baucke asked where the 500 square foot requirement came from, but added he thinks there should be some kind of kitchen and bathroom in such units. Council members addressed the space requirement, McClung suggesting there be a size range, and Benish mentioned having language that accomodates more than one kind of situation.
The motion to table specifically included consideration of space requirements, review of the kitchen requirements, and reassess the parking requirement. The motion to amend passed on a 6-0 vote, followed by the motion to table on a 6-0 vote.
Rest of meeting
Duthie told the council that he had a discussion with airport users. He said the city has signed a new three-year insurance policy on the airport that provides more coverage at a lower premium. He also reported the city is changing the internet provider to the airport because of frequent outages.
The city manager informed the council he has changed the department head meeting format. They will be held weekly on Monday mornings, and the location will rotate among the departments. The meetings will include a training assignment and policy reviews.
Duthie said the city has been looking into the possibility of utilizing a capital loan for projects if needed, adding it would be another tool available to the city. McClung further explained such a loan could be used for Enterprise Zone projects (electric, water, wastewater and sewer), but could not be used for General Fund projects without voter approval.
Interim Police Chief Curtis Witte told the council that Officer Billings is resigning as she is moving, and that Cpl. Josh is likely to be deployed next year and will last the full year.
There was a report that fast food businesses such as Sonic and McDonald’s were looking into possibly locating a franchise in Yuma.
An executive session was held at the end of the meeting for evaluations of the interim city manager, clerk/treasurer and interim police chief. The meeting was adjourned after reconvening in open.