An applicant for an accessory dwelling unit special permit shall
be an owner or owners of a detached one-family dwelling (house) with
at least a 50% ownership interest and shall have his/her/their primary
residence either in the accessory dwelling unit or in the principal
dwelling unit within the house.
No accessory dwelling unit special permit granted hereunder shall
take effect sooner than 10 years after final certificates of occupancy
are issued for the house.
The exterior appearance of the house shall not be altered by the
creation of the accessory dwelling unit except for stairways and exits
as required by law, which shall be in the side or rear of the house,
and restoration shall be consistent with the original architecture
of the house.
The lot size must comply with the requirements for a one-family dwelling as set forth under § 300-5.3. This provision shall not apply to lawful, preexisting, nonconforming structures.
To qualify for an accessory dwelling unit special permit, for a preexisting, nonconforming structure, per § 300-8.2, the accessory dwelling unit shall be constructed within the living and/or sleeping area of the preexisting structure, shall not be permitted to increase the total square footage of the preexisting structure and shall not alter the footprint of the preexisting structure.
Adequate provision shall be made for the disposal of sewage, waste
and drainage generated by the occupancy of such accessory dwelling
unit and the house and for an adequate water supply to such accessory
dwelling unit and the house in accordance with the requirements of
the Board of Public Health.
The accessory dwelling unit and all other modifications to the house
shall be designed so that appearance of the house remains that of
a one-family dwelling, and the construction and occupancy of the accessory
dwelling unit will not be more detrimental to the neighborhood in
which the house is located or injurious to persons or property than
the existing one-family use.
An accessory dwelling unit shall not be occupied as such unless the
owner or owners of the house have secured an accessory dwelling unit
special permit pursuant to this article. The special permit will be
limited to the original applicant(s) and shall terminate upon transfer
of ownership of the house.
No special permit shall be granted when more than 10% of the single-family
dwellings, based on the number of single-family dwellings as per Town
of Cohasset Assessor records, have an accessory dwelling unit pursuant
to this article.
An application for an accessory dwelling unit special permit shall include a site plan and floor plan. When the creation of an accessory dwelling unit involves exterior alteration of the house, per § 300-15.2F, elevation plans shall show the sides of the building affected by the creation of an accessory dwelling unit, before and after the construction of the accessory dwelling unit. These plans shall include, at a minimum, footprint of existing house, location and number of off-street parking spaces, square footage of existing house, square footage of proposed accessory dwelling, and location/means of ingress and egress from the accessory dwelling unit. All plans must be prepared and stamped by a registered professional architect or engineer.
An application for an accessory dwelling unit special permit must
include a notarized letter stating that the applicant will occupy
one of the dwelling units in the house. Every accessory dwelling unit
special permit shall include a condition that the applicant will occupy
one of the dwelling units in the house.
The procedures and requirements stated in this Article 15 for the review and approval or denial of an application for an accessory dwelling unit special permit shall be in addition to the provisions of § 300-12.4 of this Zoning Bylaw, which provisions shall also apply to an application for an accessory dwelling unit special permit.