Backyard cottages, like this one in Columbia City, are allowed in southeast Seattle and could be permitted in the rest of the city as early as this fall.
Ballard residents could have the opportunity to build backyard cottages, small dwellings on their properties that are not attached to the main house, as soon as this fall.
Legislation is being reviewed by the planning and land use committee of the Seattle City Council and, in the best case scenario, could be passed in September, Department of Planning and Development project manager Andrea Petzel said at the June 10 Ballard District Council meeting.
Backyard cottages can be used to house family members, such as elderly parents or grown children, or to rent out for supplemental income.
The city began allowing backyard cottages in southeast Seattle in 2006 as a pilot program, and Mayor Greg Nickels is anxious to see that expanded to the rest of the city, Petzel said.
"Frankly, we're getting a lot of pressure from the community," she said. "We've gotten a lot of phone calls from a wide range of neighborhoods wondering when this is coming to their area."
About a dozen Ballard residents attended the district council meeting to hear the presentation on backyard cottages. Most were supportive and seemed interested in building cottages of their own.
There are 19 backyard cottages in the southeast, many of which are being used to house family members, and they have been met with a largely positive response, Petzel said.
According to a 2007 planning department survey of 260 homes near the cottages, 71 percent of 118 respondents said the cottages fit the neighborhood and 89 percent said homeowners should be allowed to build them.
In expanding backyard cottages to the rest of Seattle, the city would set a cap of 50 new backyard cottages per year and require the homeowner to live in the the main house or the cottage for at least six months of the year.
In order for a lot to be eligible for a backyard cottage, it must be at least 4,000 square feet. The cottage cannot be larger than 800 square feet, and the main house and the cottage must not take up more than 35 percent of the lot.
The city has allowed cottages that are attached to the main house since 1994. There are more than 900 of those units citywide.
