By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw

WARSAW — Kosciusko County is seeing an increased number of requests to allow for a second dwellings on residential lots.

Known years ago as a mother-in-law's house, the practice of allowing accessory dwelling units traditionally was based on hardships.

But with the increased availability of sewers around some lakes, more and more requests are being heard by the county BZA, said Matt Sandy, director of the area plan comission.

While the BZA handles requests for ADUs individually, the county lacks a formal policy on how to treat ADU requests and is looking to expand or refine the parameters.

Accessory dwelling units were one of several issues discussed Friday when members of the Area Plan Commission, BZA and other officials gathered for a joint meeting of the plan commission and BZA.

The meeting was prompted by a state law requiring counties to look at policies to help encourage more housing opportunities across much of the county, according to Area Plan Director Matt Sandy.

Officials are expected to recap some of the findings from Friday's meeting at the Area Plan Commission meeting in December.

Any changes in policy would require approval of the plan commission and the county commissioners.

Sandy said the plan office is keeping the commissioners in the loop on possible changes ahead of time.

Friday's meeting attracted more than 20 people, some of whom represented area towns.

Also attending were representatives of Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County, which has formed its own housing coalition and offered their support.

Sandy said such interest and input are appreciated.

Another topic discussed Friday focused on the desire by some to allow for more dense residential developments such as small collections of duplexes or triplexes, which would fall into the zoning category of multi-family housing.

That type of housing could also benefit from smaller lot sizes and access to sewers.

On both discussion points, some of those at the meeting expressed a desire to avoid a one-size-fits-all cookie-cutter approach, saying flexibility is needed for different scenarios.

"There is a need for additional housing in this aspect. ADUs might not fill all of the components we need, but it could fill a gap," Sandy said.

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