A D US AND
ST RS Granny flats aren’t old news Story by RENEE UMSTED
W H E N JASO N GU Y N ES BO U G H T his 1,200-square-foot home near Lower Greenville in 2005, he was leasing out rooms to his friends. But then he got married, and his wife moved in. Next they had a child, and it didn’t take long to realize they needed more space. They looked at their large backyard and carport and saw potential. “And the grand idea was, just tear the carport down. Put a garage in it. What guy doesn’t want to have a garage, right?” Guynes says. “And then if we’re going to build a garage, let’s build some living space on top of that, and we can rent it out and kind of help subsidize the cost of building the garage. And maybe there would be some office space or something in there as well.” But that idea was scrapped because they realized it would be too expensive, even with Guynes’ dad serving as general contractor for free. So years later, when a nearby home with a 523-square-foot accessory dwelling unit (ADU) came on the market, the Guyneses snatched it up. They converted the storage shed into auxiliary space where Guynes can work, and the ADU is right above it. The ADU functioned as an Airbnb for about two weeks. Then Guynes realized he didn’t have enough time to do the necessary maintenance to use the ADU as a short-term rental (STR). They started leasing it to a veterinary technician who wanted to live close to work. Late last year, she told Guynes she planned to move out, so now the furnished ADU will be rented to traveling nurses and other professionals in 13-week increments. ADUs and STRs aren’t limited to our neighborhood, and they have been the subject of discussions for years, including among Dallas’ governmental bodies. In 2018, the Dallas City Council approved an amendment to allow ADUs as rental properties either by the Board of Adjustment’s granting a special exception to allow one or by an ADU overlay, where units are permitted in a mapped area. The Board of Adjustment approved two ADUs in January 2020. There are likely more in Dallas, according to a
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City case report, but there was no way to count them because no building permits had been issued. Then in February 2020, the Housing & Homelessness Solutions Committee asked staff to research a “ byright” and “opt-out” process for ADUs. A “ by-right” option would allow an ADU to be built on a property with a single-family use in any area that allows a single-family use, unless specifically prohibited. An “opt-out” amendment would allow neighborhoods to create an overlay that would stop ADUs from being constructed “by-right.” Feedback was solicited from the public, but at a Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee meeting in October 2020, officials decided to hold off on potential code amendments. District 9 City Council member Paula Blackmon says disc ussions about ADUs have been paused to deal with STRs. “We wanted to get those (STRs) regulated first because some ADUs may become a short-term rental,” she says. In November 2021, a task force led by co-chairs Mayor Pro Tem Chad West and District 7 City Council member Adam Bazaldua was formed to discuss how to regulate STRs. Around the same time, the City Plan Commission was considering how to define STRs. At the Dec. 2 meeting, the commissioners authorized a public hearing to consider amending the Dallas Development Code, sending the matter to the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee. Many Dallas residents at the meeting shared their experiences, largely negative, of sharing neighborhoods with STRs. They reported unwanted noise, crime and violence. And properties whose renters are quiet can be problematic, too, one speaker said, because they can interrupt neighborhood ties. Complaints about ADUs have been different. In District 9, Blackmon says she’s concerned about density, especially because parking space has to be
