BERLIN – Officials asked staff to research potential changes to the code following one resident’s concerns regarding changes to single family homes.
Lisa Hall, a former council member and resident of Ann Drive, approached officials during Monday’s council meeting to share concerns regarding a home in her neighborhood. She said the home’s garage had been turned into an apartment for an aging relative.
“This is a situation that could develop into something else,” she said. “It’s something we need to look at to protect property values.”
Hall said it didn’t bother her that the neighbor in question had moved a relative into his garage. Her concern, she said, was the fact that the property’s current owners wouldn’t be there forever.
“Down the road what is this home getting sold as?” she said.
The rancher, Hall said, was now a duplex. She’s worried that some day the home will be sold and the property owner will rent out the house and the apartment separately.
“My neighborhood is zoned single family residential,” she said.
Hall pointed out that things like firewalls and increased traffic should be considered with the addition of an apartment to the neighborhood. She told the council she didn’t want to see the property turn into anything like two long-derelict apartment houses on Broad Street.
“All of us took a lot of heat for those problems,” she said. “I want to protect my property.”
While the apartments on Broad Street are currently being renovated, Hall said the same situation could happen elsewhere in town. She recommended adjusting the code to include covenants so that apartments could be used but only by family members.
Dave Engelhart, the town’s planning director, said the situation in Hall’s neighborhood was allowed under the town code because the garage the apartment had been built in was attached.
“It’s technically not a duplex,” he said. “If it’s an attached portion of the house, there’s nothing to say you can’t have it.”
Hall stressed that she wasn’t concerned with the home now but was worried the property could become a future rental.
Mayor Gee Williams agreed the issue was one that could be researched to see if any changes to town code were needed.
“Let’s be proactive,” he said. “Let’s see what other communities are doing.”
