The Woodland Planning Commission held a workshop to update local land-use code to comply with House Bill 1337, which requires cities to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) under certain conditions. Commissioners, staff and public witnesses discussed how to implement the law locally, and staff were directed to prepare redlined code for further review.
Realtors and residents testified in favor of ADUs as a housing tool. Mike Wallen of the Lower Columbia Association of Realtors said ADUs can help the housing shortage and urged the commission to consider reducing parking requirements; he cited an example impact fee of about “$5,900 impact fee per ADU.” Heather Renner described an on-site ADU used to house an ill family member and urged flexibility to preserve household options for aging relatives.
Commissioners discussed several implementation choices. They expressed consensus on key points: allow up to two ADUs on qualifying single-family lots, eliminate an owner-occupancy requirement the city previously maintained, and reduce off-street parking requirements to one space per ADU while providing administrative flexibility for variances or case-by-case adjustments. Commissioners also proposed relying on existing lot-coverage rules to control ADU size instead of imposing a strict new square-foot cap, and asked staff to research other cities’ (Lacey, Longview) sample code.
Staff and commission members noted practical issues: whether ADUs in mobile-home parks or industrial areas should be treated differently; how condominiumization of detached ADUs would be recorded (staff noted that other cities create new legal descriptions for condoed ADUs); and fees and process for variances (a variance application example number was discussed: $2,500 plus cost recovery). Commissioners agreed to have staff produce redlined code and comparisons for the next meeting and to bring back examples and legal language.
Next steps: staff will prepare and circulate redlines and model code examples before the next workshop, including suggested language for parking flexibility, owner-occupancy removal, two-ADU allowances, and conditional-use parameters for childcare and industrial-site questions. The commission did not take a final ordinance vote at this meeting.
The workshop included detailed exchanges on setbacks, lot coverage, parking enforcement, and site-plan review thresholds; commissioners asked staff for language that preserves safety (drop-off/pick-up provisions for childcare centers) while complying with state mandates.