WESTERLO — The town of Westerlo is aiming to streamline the permitting process for accessory-dwelling units in the town, thereby making it easier for elderly residents who’d otherwise be looking for dedicated senior housing in the suburbs to stay close by.

Also known as mother-in-law apartments, ADU’s are secondary homes on a property that don’t require a subdivision due to their relatively small size. 

Westerlo Supervisor Matthew Kryzak told The Enterprise earlier this month that the endeavor is essentially a backup plan, having learned that it was very unlikely that a senior-housing developer would ever break ground in the rural community.

“I’ve looked into trying to entice senior living developers into Westerlo,” he said. “You need three things. Three-phase power, public water, and public sewer. Without those three items, it’s hard to support multiple dwelling units.” 

The head of the town’s combined zoning-and-planning board, Bill Hall, who’s working on the bill, told The Enterprise that senior housing is a “big issue” in the town, and that more ADUs, also known as mother-in-law-apartments, is a “no-brainer.”

“We already have this three-acre minimum [for properties in the town], so we’re spread out as it is,” he said. “The neighborhood’s not really going to be at risk in most scenarios, and if you look at the hamlet, which is where there might be issues, it’s already so tight in there that anything is going to need variances, so they’re going to need to have the ZBA/planning board look at that anyway.”

Hall, who was a member of the town’s former zoning board of appeals before the town merged it with the planning board, said that he would frequently encounter families who had planned to build an ADU but were unaware that the town’s zoning didn’t allow for any that are detached, despite allowing for four attached units, with scaling acreage requirements. 

“You don’t need anything extra other than going to the building inspector if you want to build an in-law apartment above a garage that’s attached,” he said, while doing the same thing above a detached garage requires a variance — something he called a “major hold-up.” 

The goal is to be as flexible as possible, Hall said, without causing anyone any major headaches. 

“As you go to these planning conferences and things, you see all sorts of situations,” he said. “It could be a little house out back, a little cottage, it could be above the garage, behind the garage, things like that. We just want to make it a little bit more open so that those scenarios can be handled.” 

Hall also said that, despite senior housing being one of the major anticipated perks of the law, the units are not required to be dedicated for seniors. 

“I know in some towns there’s a lot of restrictions on what you can do with an ADU …,” he said. “With there being only one unit [per three-acre property], I don’t think it’s going to get out of control.”

Hall said that properties are typically only “renter-heavy” once they have three or four units.

“I don’t see adding one extra unit leading to an influx of rentals out in Westerlo,” he said. “Everyhing is still spread out. I think that three-acre minimum really protects from a lot of that, and even in the hamlet, there’s not room for a ton extra.”