Discussion to continue next week about accessory dwellings
Next week, the Brown County Area Plan Commission will again work on creating rules for “accessory dwelling units” in people’s yards.
This will be the board’s third work session on this topic. The meeting will start at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 26 at the County Office Building; this discussion will take place after the regular business if time allows, the agenda says.
Accessory dwelling units are separate living quarters from the main home on a property. They could be part of a detached garage or another kind of stand-alone building.
APC members have said they suspect there are a lot of these already out in the county, even though it’s not technically legal to have more than one residence on a single-family parcel. One of the aims in creating rules for ADUs is to bring existing ones into compliance with the law, as well as to expand their use with the idea of making more affordable housing options.
At their February work session — which no members of the public attended besides the newspaper — the board came to consensus on some basic rules. They want the public’s input on them.
They talked about allowing ADUs as small as 400 square feet, and as large as 1,300 square feet or no more than 75 percent of the primary house’s size. That’s an effort to avoid having the “accessory” dwelling be almost as big as the primary dwelling.
The board was not in favor of requiring ADUs to be built any certain setback from the primary residence, or requiring a separate driveway. They also didn’t think that people should have to demonstrate a “need” for an ADU before being allowed to build one, or require a special exception to build one. They also said “no” to limiting them to one story, and to requiring some sort of planting “screen” to shield the ADU from view.
ADUs should not be limited to only being built in sewer districts, they said. If a property owner had extra capacity in his septic system and wanted to hook the ADU onto it, that would be OK if it was OK with the health department; or if he wanted to build a new septic system to serve it, that would be OK too, they said.
The board does want to see ADUs have a permanent foundation, however “permanent” is defined in county standards.
If a property owner wanted to rent his ADU to someone who wasn’t part of his household, that could be done, but only if it was for more than 30 days at a time. That would prevent ADUs from being used as tourist rentals.
If the property were to go up for sale, the primary dwelling and accessory dwelling would have to sell together unless they were divided into two different parcels, board members said.
They also opted to allow ADUs in all zoning districts except industrial.
All these rules are subject to discussion, as the board has not taken any votes.
Election board president resigns, cites dysfunction
The Brown County Election Board is going to be short a member and a president.
Susanne Gaudin announced her resignation last week, effective March 31. Among her reasons is that she doesn’t have confidence in the way the board is functioning.
As if March 13, no notice had been given to the media of a meeting of the board scheduled for the following afternoon. Under the Open Door Law, notice has to be given at least 48 hours in advance. A notice was hung at the location where the meeting would take place and was posted on the county’s website calendar; however, notice is also required to be sent to media outlets.
Brown County Clerk Kathy Smith is the secretary of the board, and Gaudin had charged her with these tasks. A phone message left at Smith’s desk phone seeking comment went unreturned.
The March 14 meeting was canceled. A reschedule date had not been set as of press time.
Both Smith and board member Amy Kelso had requested on March 13 that the March 14 meeting not take place as planned because of personal scheduling conflicts. Kelso’s proxy had not been sworn in yet and Smith’s proxy couldn’t make it, Gaudin said.
In a phone call to The Democrat, Gaudin also expressed concerns about not getting information she needed from the clerk’s office in a timely manner.
At the March meeting, the board was to discuss the possibility of switching from precinct polling places to vote centers for the 2020 presidential election. That’s a process that has to start now, Gaudin said.
Gaudin was the only veteran member of the three-member election board, which is composed of the county clerk and a representative from the Republican and Democratic parties. Smith took office as county clerk in January and the Democratic Party appointed Kelso as its representative. Gaudin represented the Republican Party.
The board’s first meeting of the year on Feb. 14 included tense exchanges between Kelso and Gaudin, with additional comments from people in the audience, mostly centered on the question of when the board would meet. Kelso, who works full-time, wanted evening meetings so that working people also could attend them; Gaudin wanted daytime meetings, one of the reasons being that she believes they are more accessible for senior citizens such as herself.
State statute allows the board president to set meeting dates and times with or without the agreement of the board. Gaudin agreed to alternate between daytime and evening meetings.
Kelso said that all this could have been avoided if Gaudin would have set a meeting schedule at the organizational meeting instead of meeting when she felt it was needed.
Gaudin said that that’s not the way the election board has ever worked in the past; meetings are scheduled as needed. Those have been afternoon meetings because elected officials can be consulted about elections then, and co-counsels of the Indiana Election Division can be asked questions during their normal business hours.
“During my two stints on the election board I never once saw Ms. Kelso in the audience at meetings,” Gaudin wrote.
“It’s always disappointing when an individual has not taken the time to understand the basic facts about a board before accepting the invitation to serve.”
“Susanne can do what she feels she needs to do, as we know no one is irreplaceable,” Kelso said about Gaudin’s resignation.
“I am committed to the Open Door Law and serving Brown County citizens on the election board,” Kelso added.
Gaudin’s proxy is Robyn Bowman. She will serve in Gaudin’s stead until the Republican Party finds someone permanent, Gaudin said.
