Have you been thinking about inviting the mother-in-law to move in, but you just don’t have the room? Do you dream of making some extra money by turning a section of your home into either a long-term or short-term rental? Would you be interested in a detached man-cave, she-shed or pool house?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions and if you live in the Wilmington city limits, then your dreams just crossed a big hurdle at the start of the month.
On December 1st, a new ordinance went into effect that will make it easier for homeowners to build an addition that is attached to their home or a detached dwelling in the backyard. The new rules are spelled out in the Wilmington City Development Code section 18- 199 to section 18-200.
Under the new rules, any new addition attached to the home is limited to one third the size of the existing structure. Dwellings that are detached are limited to 900 square feet.
“I don’t need all this space,” said Carolyn Atkinson who lives in a 3,200 square foot home in Wilmington’s Midtown area. “It was a great place to raise a family, but the kids have all moved out and started their own life. There are rooms in this house that I haven’t spent any time in months if not years.”
Atkinson will tell you that she has thought about buying something smaller, but she can’t bring herself to leaving the family home. “There’s just too many memories.”
So, plan B may be to build something smaller in the backyard, to move in there and then rent out the main house. Atkinson is still researching this option. “I want to downsize, but 900 square feet seems really small.”
And if she is not careful that small space could lead to big headaches.
Experts like Jeff Stokley and Lee Sweeley of Stokley Construction advise that homeowners need to find a general contractor and architect who are well versed in the city code. Their firm does not advertise, and only works with a handful of select clients. They are currently building a pool house outside the city limits, but are not currently working on any projects that are a direct result of the new rules.
“Any time you build anything in the city limits there are so many items, specific items in the building code, hurdles and red tape that you have to jump over,” said Stokley. “Make sure that whoever you hire can deal with the paper work, and understands how the process works. Otherwise your job will be stuck in the permitting department for months, if not longer. We see homeowners all the time who cannot get the official approval because they haven’t hired someone who can help them navigate through the system.”
The first step, even before hiring a contractor, is checking with your home owners association. Regardless of what the new ordinances say, it is possible that some HOA covenants could still prohibit additional dwelling space.