Should in-law suites be in zoning code?

NORTH WALES >> They’ve been appearing more and more around North Wales lately, so should the borough’s codebook be changed to address them?

Borough officials heard an update earlier this month from the town’s zoning hearing board about an issue they may need to discuss further: in-law suites, and how to regulate them.

“If you were to look at all of our applications over the last five or seven years, you’d see a lot of in-law suites. It’s come across the board quite a bit,” said Tony Kratowicz, chairman of the borough’s zoning hearing board.

Since the town adopted the “North Wales 2040” comprehensive plan update in 2018, council and its various boards and commissions have begun to tackle various aspects of it, including updates to the town’s overall zoning codes. A similar revamp was proposed in 2014, but a change that would have expanded the town’s transit-oriented zone was voted down after heavy opposition from residents.

Kratowicz and borough Manager Christine Hart gave an update during council’s March 9 meeting on one area that may need addressing: those in-law suites that may be conversions of existing rooms or space, or additions.

“Montgomery County, and several other regional areas, are promoting aging in place, to keep your loved ones near, or set yourself up so that you can age in place, for lack of a better term,” Hart said.

“Our zoning chapter 208 does not allow this, for whatever reason. It does, to some extent, if it’s attached to the dwelling, and if there’s a deed restriction, but to Tony’s point, the zoning hearing board has been seeing more and more of these,” she said.

Councilwoman Wendy McClure said she’d seen three in-law suite applications filed to the borough in recent months, one for a house converting an existing room, a second where a detached garage will be converted, and a third where a resident asked for new construction to be an in-law suite. =

Council President Jim Sando said any and all of those types could be addressed in an update of the town’s zoning code, since for now the zoning board is handling them on a caseby-case basis by granting variances or exceptions as necessary.

“As we update the zoning, we look at all of these pieces, as part of how we deal with the requests for in-law suites going forward,” he said.

Kratowicz added that, while he and the zoning board are not allowed to advise council in any direction, a memo from that board’s solicitor is included in council’s meeting materials packet for March 9 outlining the issue, and notifying council that Montgomery County’s planning commission is working on guidance along those lines.

“They’re leaning toward asking boroughs to be more lenient for these types of variances, these types of special exceptions, so they would rather have the family stay at home instead of putting the family into another home,” he said.

Councilman Mark Tarlecki asked if staff could ensure the borough planning commission also discuss in-law suites, and develop their own recommendations for council, and Mayor Greg D’Angelo said that body has had one consistent requirement in recent years.

“We don’t have an objection to an in-law suite, but as soon as the in-laws move out, or are deceased, then that variance is lifted,” he said.

“What we don’t want to see happen, without any kind of pre-knowledge, is turning it into a rental suite,” D’Angelo said.

Kratowicz said in recent cases, the zoning board has required that deed modifications be made for the owners of properties adding the in-law suite, “along the lines of what the Mayor just said” about expiring once the in-laws are gone.

McClure asked if any of the earlier approvals would set precedents for future ones, and Hart said they would not, since variances and special exceptions are only granted case-by-case. Tarlecki and D’Angelo then said they’d report back to council on talks at the planning commission level on how to handle the in-law suites, prior to any formal recommendation or action.

North Wales borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on March 23; for more information visit www.NorthWalesBorough.org.