Traverse City commissioners will consider relaxing restrictions on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and tourist homes at their 7pm meeting tonight (Monday) at the Governmental Center.

Commissioner Brian Haas requested both topics be placed on the agenda for discussion. Haas is recommending eliminating a zoning restriction that limits the number of new ADUs that can be built in the city each year to 10. "In a time when we are in desperate need of housing choices, this 'test' limit is a barrier to planning by homeowners and arbitrary in nature," Haas wrote to city staff.

Commissioners limited the number of ADUs to 10 each year as part of an initial pilot period for the rental units. After the 10-limit maximum was hit in both 2015 and 2016, and with a waiting list of 10 already on deck for 2017, planning commissioners in May considered lifting the restriction. However, they ultimately decided to wait and revisit the topic in April 2017 to give the pilot more time. City commissioners tonight could vote to ask the planning commission to reconsider the policy now and hold a public hearing on the topic.

Other restrictions on ADUs - such as requiring the homeowner to live on-site, limiting ADUs to no more than 800 square feet and one per parcel, and requiring a minimum three-month rental - are expected to remain in place.

Haas also requested commissioners tonight consider eliminating a requirement that there be a 1,000 foot distance between tourist homes in the city. Homeowners can obtain a license from the city to rent out up to three individual rooms in their homes to short-term visitors staying not more than one week. However, the 1,000 foot boundary restriction in any direction from other tourist homes means large swaths of the city are now off-limits to homeowners who might be interested in obtaining a license.

"The problem with our existing ordinance is that it places an arbitrary boundary around existing tourist homes," Haas wrote, "not allowing a neighbor to utilize their own private property for the only reason that their neighbor got there first."

As with ADUs, commissioners could vote tonight to ask the planning commission to hold a public hearing on tourist homes and make a formal recommendation on changing the policy to the city commission.