Temporary Heath Care Dwelling Units are somewhat of a new
concept. A law was passed this past
legislative session to provide for these.
They are a dwelling unit of up to 300 square feet typically built
somewhat like a travel trailer. The idea
for these was to provide families with a means to take care of a family member
who has health issues at their home when space doesn’t exist in the home to
deal with another person. They
essentially become an additional bedroom external to the home.
The person using this structure must be physically or
mentally impaired. This must be verified
and involves some non-public data to be given to the city. There are also
timelines for this use that need to be observed. The structure can be used for one year and an
additional year if needed. This also
requires some vigilance on the city to monitor the use and timelines.
The legislature passed this bill which provides for these
units as an allowed use stating these must
be allowed within the city unless the city opts out, by ordinance. This approach is somewhat contrary to local
control of zoning but with an “opt-out” provision the city has the ability to
say no. To say no it must pass an ordinance.
With the statute in place the Planning Commission looked at
the possibility of this and had a number of concerns. Their concerns were mostly from a land use
perspective. The structure would need to meet applicable setback
requirements. There were concerns about
water and sewer connections. They were
particularly concerned about the process of removal of these structures when
the time period ends. They didn’t want these to turn into spare bedrooms,
student housing or vacation rentals.
They also commented that we have provisions in the code currently to
provide for guest housing. Conflicts with these and other recreational
trailers or vehicles could also become a problem. They recommended an ordinance to opt-out of
the requirement at this time. The city
could remove the opt-out provision and allow these at a later date but for the
time being they did not feel it in the best interest of the city to allow these.
The city council approved the ordinance opting-out of the
Health Care Dwelling Units provision under state law.
