Accessory dwelling units are now permitted by right in single-family zoning districts across Massachusetts. In the Berkshires, municipalities are still working to bring local bylaws into compliance with the state law.
For years, Massachusetts has left it to individual towns and cities to define what is an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, to set restrictions and to decide whether to allow them at all. But as the housing crisis has deepened, officials looked to streamline regulations and cut away some of the red-tape that has prevented the construction of ADUs, which some would know as in-law apartments.
In August, Gov. Maura Healey signed a statewide ADU law to do just that. The law stipulated that the policy allowing ADUs by right would go into effect 180 days after it was signed, leaving municipalities that want to maintain any form of local control over ADUs less than six months to amend — or create — their own bylaws.
While the law has kicked into effect, the implementation process is far from over in the Berkshires. Many municipalities are still in the process of drafting or amending their ADU bylaws. Even then, there are questions about what comes next.
“Some communities were on it right away and had special town meetings in late fall, early winter to deal with it,” said Cornelius Hoss, community planner and development program manager at Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. “Some communities are still moving forward at various stages.”