Council Candidates in District 4 | Question of the Week Seven | Aug. 16
Each week through the Primary, The Breeze will ask the candidates for Cape Coral City Council an issue-related question. In the interest of fairness, each candidate is limited to the same amount of words, about 100, for their response.
This week’s question:
What are your views on “accessory dwelling units?”
District 4 candidates’ answers:
Richard Carr (Incumbent)
Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) come in many forms, both attached and detached from the primary dwelling. To meet the definition of an ADU, it must contain a bedroom, living room, and kitchen. The distinction between an in-law suite and an ADU is that an ADU has a stove. Since our city is pre-platted with relatively small lot sizes (10,000 sq. feet), I do not support ADUs. I believe the negative impact on surrounding neighbors would be significant and would detract from the overall quality of life in neighborhoods. Additionally, any attempt to regulate ADUs in a meaningful way would be difficult or impossible to enforce.
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William Matthews
Accessory dwelling units are a great way to combat the high cost of the current real estate market. Some families have retired parents that live on a fixed income and want to move closer to their family, or can’t afford their mortgage payments because of the constant increases in real estate taxes. Others have children returning from college because they can’t afford their own place. Accessory dwelling units allow family members to move in with their family while having their own private space. This also allows the family members to help out financially and make things easier for everyone.
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Jennifer Nelson
Accessory Dwelling Units can serve as an affordable housing option and a positive addition to a single-family home. These units can help encourage options for workforce housing or generational living opportunities, both of which our city needs.
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Robert J. Sutter
Facebook (facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558157836677)
We have all heard and felt the increase in the cost of living within Cape Coral and that it will continue to rise as out-of-control spending from our city council increases. For some, accessory dwelling units can be an answer to off-set these increasing costs. Accessory dwelling units or multi-generation housing is common in Europe and is often used to assist the elderly (grandparents) that are on fixed incomes as well as young families that are looking for a way to save money for a down-payment on their first home. Lastly, I believe that any directive regarding accessory dwelling units needs to have parameters that can be easily identifiable and enforced.