Waynesboro: No applications received to date for cottage court housing

The City of Waynesboro updated its zoning in January to allow for cottage court housing in hopes that it could be part of a solution to the housing affordability crisis in the region.

Nearly one year after the conversation began in Waynesboro, there has been little movement on the cottage-court front, according to Leslie Tate, director of community development.

“We have had some exploratory conversations, but no applications received to date,” Tate told AFP.

Waynesboro City Council voted in January to approve an ordinance to allow cottage courts throughout the city.  City Council and the Planning Commission first took up the matter last summer.

“It’s promising. It gives us that potential to address affordability, and I think it gives more options,” said Kenny Lee, Waynesboro’s mayor, in a previous interview with AFP.

The changes to city zoning were made after a regional housing study found a need for more one- and two-bedroom housing units in the city.

Cottage court housing will still require a conditional use permit, so all applications will be reviewed by staff and City Council.

“It would just allow a developer or individual to come forward with an application, and that application would be reviewed by your staff. It would be reviewed at a public hearing by your Planning Commission and then ultimately reviewed by Council, approved or denied. And if approved, you can also set any range of related conditions to that specific permit. So when we say it can be permitted in all districts, it’s only after that rigorous process that would come before you,” Tate said at the January meeting.

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