40.260.073    Cottage Housing

A.    Purpose.

    The purposes of the cottage housing provisions are:

1.    To promote sustainable development practices through smaller, more efficient housing and effective use of residential land.

2.    To diversify the county’s housing stock by providing a housing type that is affordable and that responds to changing household sizes and ages, such as retirees, small families, and single-parent households.

3.    To encourage development in existing residential areas by allowing a density bonus and design flexibility.

4.    To provide centrally located and functional common open space that fosters a sense of community and openness within the cottage development.

5.    To provide private areas around the individual dwellings to enable diversity in landscape design and foster a sense of ownership.

6.    To maintain the character of existing residential neighborhoods and ensure compatibility between cottage developments and their neighbors.

(Amended: Ord. 2019-03-05)

B.    Applicability.

1.    This section applies to cottage housing developments as defined in Section 40.100.070.

2.    Except within the Mixed Use (MX) zone (which has its own standards), cottage housing shall comply with the standards, requirements, and limitations in Section 40.260.073(C).

3.    The narrow lot development standards in Section 40.260.155 shall not apply to cottage housing developments.

(Amended: Ord. 2019-03-05)

C.    Development Standards and Requirements.

1.    Cottage housing developments shall be subject to site plan review in accordance with Section 40.520.040; except, where the site is proposed to be platted with each cottage on its own lot, the site plan shall be reviewed in conjunction with the land division application and a separate site plan review application shall not be required.

2.    Cottage housing developments may be allowed at up to two hundred percent (200%) of the maximum density of the underlying zone, including any accessory dwelling units.

3.    Cottage housing developments shall contain a minimum of four (4) and a maximum of twelve (12) units in a cluster; provided, that a cottage development may contain more than one (1) cluster.

4.    For platted cottage developments, the minimum lot area and lot dimension standards of the underlying zone shall not apply; provided, that the cottage on each lot meets the setback and separation standards herein.

5.    Cottages and accessory structures shall maintain the following minimum setbacks:

a.    Ten (10) feet from public rights-of-way or private street easements.

b.    Five (5) feet from external non-street property boundaries.

c.    Eighteen (18) feet from a street for garage doors; provided the minimum garage door setback from an alley may be two (2) feet.

d.    Ten (10) feet minimum space between buildings (including accessory structures).

6.    On-site parking shall be provided at a minimum rate of one and one-half (1 1/2) parking spaces per cottage and one (1) parking space per accessory dwelling unit.

7.    On-site parking may be clustered in common parking lots or detached garages.

8.    Detached garages may contain up to two (2) accessory dwelling units (ADUs, also known as carriage units) per cottage cluster built above the parking spaces.

9.    Cottage developments shall provide common open space at a minimum rate of four hundred (400) square feet per cottage.

10.    Common open space shall be located with cottages abutting on at least two (2) sides and abutting a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of the cottages in the cluster.

11.    Each cottage shall have a minimum of two hundred (200) square feet of private open space. Private open space shall be adjacent to each dwelling unit for the exclusive use of the residents of that cottage. The space shall be usable (not encumbered by steep slopes or other physical limitations) and oriented toward the common open space as much as possible, with no dimension less than ten (10) feet.

D.    Building Design Standards.

1.    Cottages shall have a minimum of one hundred fifty (150) and a maximum of sixteen hundred (1,600) square feet gross floor area. The maximum floor area allowed on the ground or main floor shall be twelve hundred (1,200) square feet.

2.    Cottages located adjacent to a street shall provide a covered entry feature with minimum dimensions of six (6) feet by six (6) feet facing the street.

3.    Cottage facades facing the common open space or common pathway shall feature a roofed porch at least eighty (80) square feet in size with a minimum dimension of eight (8) feet on any side.

4.    The maximum building height shall be twenty-five (25) feet for cottages and ADUs built over garages and eighteen (18) feet for accessory structures.

5.    All portions of building roofs over eighteen (18) feet in height must be pitched with a minimum slope of six to twelve (6:12).

6.    Cottages and accessory buildings within a particular cluster shall be designed within the same “family” of architectural styles. Examples include:

a.    Similar building/roof form and pitch.

b.    Similar siding materials.

c.    Similar porch detailing.

d.    Similar window trim.

A diversity of cottages can be achieved within a “family” of styles by:

e.    Alternating porch styles (such as roof forms).

f.    Alternating siding details on facades and/or roof gables.

g.    Different siding color.

(Added: Ord. 2012-02-03; Amended: Ord. 2018-01-17)

*    Code reviser’s note: Ordinance 2012-02-03 adds this section as Section 40.260.075. It has been editorially renumbered to avoid duplication of numbering.