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City of Tampa
An example of an ADU from the City of Tampa's website.
Today, Tampa City Council moved to ease rules for the use of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), while also raising concerns about how they will be used.
ADUs are usually smaller than one-bedroom apartments, and often come in the form of mother-in-law suites, tiny homes and garage apartments. The size of the units makes them potentially easier to afford, while still providing all of the important aspects of an apartment.
Currently, ADU rules are more relaxed in the Seminole Heights and Lowry Park area of Tampa, making them easier to use as housing. Today, city staff presented council with the option of easing rules in a similar way for several other neighborhoods, including Tampa Heights and Central Tampa, West Tampa, parts of Westshore and sections of the USF area.
Parts of South Tampa are considered high coastal hazard areas, and many parts of New Tampa are deed restricted, so those areas are not included in the ADU easing plans as of yet. But Hyde Park and Davis Island may be included as allowable areas for the ADUs, staff found.
Council approved the first step in the easing of rules for the ADUs with a vote of 5-2, citing the housing crisis and the urgency of increasing housing in the area.
“We desperately need housing,” said councilwoman Lynn Hurtak.
Hurtak continued that she and other council members have concerns that need to be addressed about ADUs, but that council can’t “keep kicking the can down the road” on housing.
Council members Guido Maniscalco, Luis Viera and Orlando Gudes also weighed in and gave their support for the easing of ADU rules. Councilmen Bill Carlson and Charlie Miranda voted against the motion, saying that there wasn’t enough detail in the city’s plan for the easing of the rules.
Council asked a lot of questions about safety and code measures for ADUs. They also debated about whether or not owners of ADUs should also have to live on the same property as the unit.
This is just the first step toward actually easing rules for ADUs. An ordinance still has to be crafted, then come back before council for a first reading in December, Director of Development and Growth Management Abbye Feeley told council.
Several council members, including Carlson and Viera pointed out that if ADUs are not used for affordable housing and are instead used for Airbnbs—as hundreds of homeowners alluded to in a recent survey—that it could mean trouble for renters.
“Councilman Carlson mentioned Airbnb, that's a concern for a lot of folks,” Councilman Viera said. “And it's something where if we go forward with ADUs, which I support, I think it's something that is smart, especially right now with our housing crisis. But we obviously have to measure and keep tab of any unintended consequences. We have to just keep abreast of that.”
During the meeting, Nathan Hagen of YIMBY Tampa pointed out that Airbnbs cannot be regulated by the city even if it wanted to, because the city is preempted by state law.
He also mentioned recent reporting about the potential effects of ADUs being used as Airbnbs.
“Last week there was an article about ADUs in Creative Loafing that said that ADUs were a force for gentrification,” said Hagen. “And that's a complex issue that I don't have, I can't try to walk us through here in three minutes.”
What Hagen didn’t mention is that the article actually
focused on the hundreds of homeowners saying that they’d use ADUs as Airbnbs, not ADUs in general leading to gentrification.
Across the country, it is proven time and time again by economic studies that a large volume of Airbnb rentals in a city leads to gentrification. Hagen also argued that South Tampa and New Tampa shouldn’t get excluded from the ADU easing.
He argued that not having eased rules for ADUs in the “wealthiest parts of Tampa” was “very conspicuous.”
“I think everyone can see through that,” Hagen said.
Stephanie Poynor, President of Tampa Homeowner Association of Neighborhoods addressed Hagen directly during her comments to council.
“First of all I want to address Mr. Hagen implying that there is no poverty South of Gandy,” Poynor said. “We are bearing the brunt [of the housing crisis] in the four square miles that I live in.”
Poynor continued by saying that she does support ADUs, but reminded council that parts of Tampa are at high flood risk, saying that if Hurricane Ian had hit South Tampa there would have been devastating, life-ending flooding.
“You know, everything down here would have been underwater,” Poynor said. “So at that point it’s about: how many people do you want to drown?”
Earlier in the meeting, during public comment, Stanley Gray from the Urban League of Hillsborough County offered a constructive idea to council for at least some of the ADUs.
"I'm asking you to assist in the future, the Urban League of Hillsborough County to attain city property and so that we can actually build and make more accessory buildings and housing for specific parties [such as] senior citizens on fixed incomes as well as returning citizens," Gray told council.
