🏡 Expanding Housing Options with Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

In July 2025, Governor Ayotte signed HB 577 into law, expanding the definition of Accessory Dwelling Units and allowing detached units by right. This bipartisan measure was passed in Concord to give homeowners more flexibility and communities more affordable housing options.

Now, every community in the state, including Manchester, must update its local ordinances to align with these regulations. That means ensuring residents can build ADUs without needing unnecessary variances or special exceptions.

Luckily, Manchester has already begun this process. The second draft of the city’s updated zoning ordinance was published in August 2025. It includes ADU language, but as your candidate for Ward 9 Alderman, I believe we can go further to ensure the new rules actually help our residents.

🏠 What’s an ADU and Why Does It Matter?

An ADU is a small, self-contained housing unit located on the same property as a single-family home. They can be built inside the existing house, as an addition, or as a detached unit such as a converted garage.

This is especially relevant in Ward 9, which has a large concentration of single-family homes. ADUs give our neighborhood families more options without changing the overall character of our community.

ADUs are a proven way to:

✅ Create affordable housing without large-scale development

✅ Help seniors age in place by allowing them to live near family

✅ Provide young adults or family caregivers with independent living space

✅ Expand the city’s housing supply with minimal new infrastructure

💵 Fixing Fees and Red Tape

Currently, anyone who wants to build an ADU in Manchester faces impact fees and additional costs. Specifically, school impact fees on ADUs can range from $459 to $1,530, depending on the size of the unit. Yet we know that ADUs are overwhelmingly used by single adults or couples, not families with school-aged children.

Some homeowners have tried to get these school fees waived, but even that process comes with its own cost. To request a waiver, a resident must pay a $100 application fee and a $10 per-abutter notification fee, in addition to preparing detailed paperwork and plans.

That is why I am proposing:

• ❌ Eliminating school impact fees for ADUs altogether, so residents don’t have to spend time and money fighting fees that don’t make sense in the first place

⚡ Streamlining the Process Even Further

The good news is that under the proposed update, ADUs will no longer require a Conditional Use Permit. Instead, they will be permitted by right, which is in line with the updated New Hampshire state law and makes the process simpler and faster.

But we can do even better. I will work to:

• 📐 Develop a set of pre-approved building plans for new detached ADUs that residents can use to save on design costs and move faster through the permitting process

• 📉 Continue to push for local policies that support affordability rather than adding costs

Other cities across the country have successfully launched similar programs. For example, Santa Clara, CA offers pre-approved ADU plans through local builders (link), Bend, OR maintains a city-run library of pre-approved ADU designs (link), and Lacey, WA provides “permit-ready” ADUs with six different layouts for homeowners to choose from (link).

Manchester can adopt a similar approach so homeowners have access to affordable, standardized designs without having to start from scratch.

✅ The Bottom Line

Accessory Dwelling Units are a win-win for Manchester. They expand our housing supply, give families flexibility, and do so in a way that respects neighborhood character. But for them to work, City Hall needs to stop treating homeowners like developers.

As Alderman for Ward 9, I will push for an ADU ordinance that removes unnecessary school impact fees and work with the necessary related city departments to provide residents with pre-approved, affordable design options.

Manchester families deserve practical solutions that make it easier, not harder, to live here. ADUs are part of that solution.

Guided by Values. Focused on Outcomes.

📌 Learn more at TroyMicklon.com

📌 Follow the campaign on Facebook: facebook.com/TroyMicklonWard9