Behind John and Ginger Harkey’s home on Larch Street, the couple has long nursed a robust garden of pine trees and short bamboo bushes. Hidden inside the miniature forest is a large carriage house that had been on the property since they purchased the home in the 1980s. In fact, according to early maps of the city, the carriage house predates their principal home by a few decades — it appears on city maps in 1895, while their home first appears between 1918 and 1926.

When they first moved in, the carriage house was in pretty rough shape. The couple explained that some parts of the building were practically caving in. In photos, the wooden shingles on the outside look well on their way to rotting completely. 

“We had to make a decision: Do we tear down the barn or save it?” Ginger said. They had already torn down two other garages on the property that couldn’t be fixed. “We didn’t know what we were going to do with it at the time, but it just seemed worth saving.”

So around 1987, they chose to renovate the structure and create what was then called a “second main dwelling.” Today, they’re called accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, and they’ve gotten a lot of attention in Rhode Island over the last few years as legislators on the state and municipal levels debate how they should be regulated. When the Harkeys made their carriage house habitable — a process that included hiring an architect and general contractor, completing necessary structural changes, and plumbing and wiring the structure — the legal landscape for doing so was much less complicated. However, in just the last five years, policymakers have significantly changed the law multiple times, inspiring public debate on just how regulated — or unregulated — these units should be. 

The most recent ADU legislation was signed into law by Gov. Dan McKee in June. The package, which was presented by state Sen. Victoria Gu and Rep. June S. Speakman in May, included loose design guidelines and clarified who is allowed to rent. You can read more about the specifics of Senate Bill 2889A in the graphic above.

On July 16, the Providence City Planning Commission (CPC) responded to the new legislation with their recommendations for a zoning ordinance that will further tailor the law to Providence’s needs. Before the proposal was submitted to the City Council, it was the subject of a lively public hearing with fairly equal contributions from Providence residents on both sides of the issue. So what are ADUs? Why do some people feel so strongly about them? And how will the Providence ordinance differ from the new state law? 

What is an ADU? And what is ‘owner occupancy’?

An accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, is a secondary housing unit — complete with everything a person would need to be independent, including a kitchen or kitchenette, bathroom, separate entrance, and living space — on the same property as, or inside of, a principal residence. Size is one of the main stipulations that separates an ADU from an apartment: These units must be smaller than — or “accessory” to, as the name would imply — the main structure. Another thing that differentiates the two types of housing is how they are constructed: Houses with multiple units are normally conceived that way, while ADUs are more often added on after the principal structure is built. 

Beyond different regulatory and permitting requirements, ADUs and apartments are functionally very similar under the most recent legislation. For example, they both follow the same state housing laws on minimum bedroom size and window requirements. 

Previously, ADUs were limited by owner occupancy restrictions and familial relationship clauses, unlike apartments. Owner occupancy required the owner to live on the property for most of the year, either in the principal home or in the ADU. Familial relationship clauses restricted potential tenants to family members of the property owner. 

At the July CPC meeting, owner occupancy was a point of particular interest. Nina Markov, president of the College Hill Neighborhood Association, expressed her support for such restrictions. “I think we’re already creating a lot of opportunities for non-resident developers and absentee landlords to create a lot more density with the Comp Plan zoning,” she said. 

“I feel like we’re potentially creating a slippery slope here,” Jeremy Galle, a resident of Windmill Street, said during the hearing. “We’re going to have delinquent landlords… that are going to create this unit and rent it out, and then we’re going to have an issue with overcrowding.”

In response to this criticism, Bob Azar, deputy director of the City’s Planning Department, said that the state law pretty clearly prevents municipalities from restricting ADUs on an owner-occupied basis. But even if the state law wasn’t structured in that way, Azar said that the point of the new legislation is to encourage the construction of ADUs, not put more roadblocks in the way.

“There’s a presumption that because owner-occupants live full-time on the property, they will have a better idea of what’s happening on the property, and can better control any problems that might be happening,” Azar said. However, he said that bad actors will be bad actors regardless of this particular legislation. Not to mention, he said, “many, many — probably most of our landlords — follow the rules and maintain their property.”

Christian Roselund, a policy analyst for the Providence Urbanist Network (PUN) and resident of the Mount Hope neighborhood, also testified at the July CPC meeting, stating his support for increasing density citywide. Legalizing ADUs is second on a list of 10 goals that PUN has outlined for the city. 

“[ADUs] are not a panacea or a silver bullet, but they have helped,” Roselund said. “We’ll honestly solve the housing crisis one ADU and one mixed-use building and one up-zoned neighborhood at a time.”

Ian Saxine, another member of PUN and a resident of Wickenden Street, emphasized his support for looser ADU regulations. He also criticized some of the others who testified, saying they were callous toward the plight of renters in the city who face inflated rents due to the low housing supply. 

“To respond to some of these comments, a great way to stop overcrowding is to build more homes,” he said. “We shouldn’t be distracted by scaremongering about delinquent, scary developers when we have ordinary Providence residents, the majority of [whom] still rent.”

What is gentle density?

In 2023, Rhode Island had an average rental vacancy rate of 3.7%, according to the Federal Reserve for Economic Data. The statewide home vacancy rate was even lower, coming in at a mere 0.3% in 2023. In other words, practically every house and apartment in the state is full.

In Providence specifically, low supply has pushed costs through the roof: According to HousingWorks RI’s 2023 Housing Fact Book, nearly half of all Providence renters are cost-burdened, meaning they spend a third or more of their income on rent. The same goes for about a third of the city’s homeowners. Meanwhile, the state has also seen a 72% increase in homelessness since 2019. The data is pretty clear: Our city, and our state as a whole, is practically bursting at the seams. 

In order to accommodate more residents, Providence — which famously has one of the lowest construction rates in the entire country — will have to increase the number of available units. ADUs have often been championed as a strategy for gentle density — a way to increase housing without changing the fabric of our existing neighborhoods. Because these units most often utilize existing structures, external changes are minimized or avoided. 

Given that the state law limits new construction of detached ADUs to lots with more than 20,000 total square feet — nearly double the average lot size in the Providence metro area — it seems likely that most new ADUs will be built inside the existing footprint of a home, in the form of a basement or attic apartment. Not only will this increase the city’s available units, but Brenda Clement, the executive director of HousingWorks RI, said interior ADUs are also, “a way, potentially, to reinvest back into some of [Providence’s] housing stock, and update and upgrade it as well.” 

The West Broadway Neighborhood Association (WBNA) recently converted an abandoned garage on Westminster Street in Federal Hill into a one-bedroom ADU using HOME funds from Rhode Island Housing. As a result, the unit will be used to support a low-income renter. (PPS’s Introduction to Preservation Trades trainees worked on the garage conversion in 2022.)

When PPS spoke with current WBNA Executive Director Siobhan Callahan in August, she said they were working with local organizations to find a tenant who could also benefit from the ADA-compliant space. 

“Everybody needs space,” Callahan said. “And it’s a nice space.”

Could ADUs make housing more accessible?

In Providence, the average historic home can be incredibly difficult to navigate for seniors and those with mobility impairments. Most historic houses have multiple floors to maintain, and the stairwells to access those floors are often narrower and have more turns than modern stairwells. Especially in hillier parts of the city, front entrances are often higher than ground level and only accessible from a steep outdoor staircase.

ADUs have been heralded as a compassionate solution to the national shortage of senior housing in particular. People living in ADUs are able to “stay in their communities,” instead of getting relegated to a nursing home or rehabilitation center, according to Catherine Taylor, the Rhode Island state director for AARP. The organization was key in lobbying for the new ADU law. 

“The shortage of affordable, accessible, right-sized housing is a critical issue” in Rhode Island, Taylor wrote in an ADU explainer for AARP earlier this year. In fact, the organization ranks Rhode Island 51st in the nation for the availability of senior housing — dead last. 

John and Ginger Harkey have had a variety of tenants since they first finished their unit, from students to professionals to Ginger’s father during the last few years of his life. 

“He had his privacy out there,” Ginger said. Not only could John and Ginger keep an eye on him, but he looked after the couple’s children when they were little. “He was around to play with the kids after school or push them on the swings…”

“Or teach them to make fudge,” John added. 

“Yes, or teach them how to make fudge,” Ginger nodded. “It worked out great.”

Senior and mobility-impaired housing advocates have also pointed out that ADUs could be a way for caregivers, not necessarily family members, to remain close to their patients while also maintaining some level of privacy. In order for ADUs to be utilized in this way, it was necessary for the owner occupancy language and familial relationship clause to be struck from the law.

“Right now, I’m a full-time caretaker for my elderly mom,” said Kari Lang, who was executive director of WBNA when the organization started their ADU project on Westminster Street. “She’s not in an ADU, but it [has helped] me understand how that could be a wonderful opportunity.” 

What is the CPC proposing for Providence?

The City Planning Commission’s recommended ordinance on ADUs has not yet been approved by the Providence City Council. For the most part, the CPC’s recommendations follow the state law. They plan to limit ADUs to two bedrooms and have capped the maximum square footage as low as the state permits. You can read the details in the graphic on the right.

The Department of Planning and Development’s staff report on the guidelines notes that the CPC’s proposed ordinance is in line with the City’s goals to increase construction and provide a wider variety of housing options. The City Council has waived its decision on the guidelines to the Ordinance Committee, which has not yet announced a date for the final vote. 

How would I finance the construction of an ADU?

Some ADU advocates have pointed out that these units could be used as a strategy to combat displacement. If homeowners decide to rent out a unit, they can put the rental income towards their mortgage payments and other homeownership costs.

“Sometimes people aren’t prepared for maintenance and upkeep, and so having another stream of income could be used to keep people in their homes,” Callahan said. At the same time, she emphasized how long it took for the WBNA’s ADU to be completed. With delays from the COVID-19 pandemic and a leadership change, the organization only just opened up the space to tenants in September of 2024. 

Not only did it take a long time, but it cost a lot of money. Callahan explained that connecting the garage to the main house’s water and sewage lines alone was a huge bill. According to documents from RIHousing, the WBNA took out nearly $200,000 in loans to complete the entire project. Kol Peterson, an expert on ADUs and technical consultant for AARP, has used self-reported data from other homeowners to estimate that the average cost of a newly constructed detached ADU is roughly $181,000. Peterson has also warned that garage conversions can be just as expensive as entirely new construction.

“If there’s no infrastructure already in place to encourage or support homeowners who want to do this, it’s going to take a long time,” Callahan said. “And people need housing right now.”

Clement also emphasized that without a “pot of money” from the state or federal government to support private homeowners, it’s unlikely that ADUs will take off in a big way. “In other places where they’re a little bit ahead of us like California… ADUs have been popping up fast and furious across the state to address the housing shortage,” Clement said. “I don’t expect that to happen here.”

Some homeowners can take out a home equity loan to help cover the costs of construction, but any kind of loan comes with risks and fees. Providence Revolving Fund Executive Director Carrie Zaslow has also indicated the nonprofit would be open to exploring how to help fund ADUs. 

“This is not something that we have done to date, but that doesn’t mean it’s something that we wouldn’t do,” Zaslow said. She further emphasized that PRF’s flexible terms often allow them to dispense loans that many banks can’t or won’t allow. “It could play a very large role in a lot of the work that we do, in particular with thinking about affordability,” she said. 

So what’s the bigger picture?

The city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island have been facing a serious housing shortage for several years now. Post-COVID, the rate of homelessness has only increased, and more residents are cost-burdened by their rent or mortgage payments every year. ADUs could help ease the city’s woes by providing additional rental units while also supplementing a homeowner’s income. However,  the newest ADU legislation in Rhode Island is still fairly conservative, especially when it comes to lot size restrictions on detached ADUs. Even in College Hill, where the average lot is larger than those of most other neighborhoods in Providence, a 20,000-square-foot lot is exceedingly rare. 

Even if homeowners decide to circumvent the lot size requirements by building within an existing structure, they will still have financial hurdles to overcome. The good news is that nonprofits like the Providence Revolving Fund are already thinking about how they can support moderate- to low-income homeowners through this process.

If you’re  interested in exploring your ADU options, HousingWorks RI worked with Roger Williams University students in 2017 to create some sample floor plans based on the most common types of New England houses. More recently, AARP partnered with RISD students to come up with innovative, design-driven model ADUs. Clement also advised homeowners to reach out directly to the Planning and Development Department to get the most updated information on regulations and permitting requirements.

By Keating Zelenke / Mary A. Gowdey Special Projects Fellow / kzelenke@ppsri.org

Correction 10/1/2024: An earlier version of this article stated that Kari Lang was the former president of the WBNA, and Siobhan Callahan was the current president. Kari Lang was the former executive director of the WBNA, and Siobhan Callahan is the current executive director.