In our Spotlight on Business Report tonight the debate rages on about how to create more affordable housing in the state but there's a new movement to create what's called accessory dwelling units or adus think mother-in-law Suite but for a stranger and a senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan tells us some towns are passing ordinances to allow these adus as a way to get more affordable options in their towns without all the controversy of large affordable housing units people who don't have money want to have a living space want it to be nice Michelle turned the first floor of her split level Princeton home into a one-bedroom apartment thinking maybe family could stay here during visits but six years later she's renting it out at below Market rates as an affordable accessory dwelling unit or Adu we need a diverse Community people who work here can't live here etc etc because the the prices are so so so high so we decided to renovate our house these have been used as mother-in-law units or pear Suites they have been um Cottages that people had in their back caretaker Cottages they've they've existed for so many years architect Marina rubena helped Michelle design the $30,000 renovation she specializes in adus which can be built into existing homes over a garage or in Princeton as a separate smaller dwelling on the same property as a single family home and what it means is that the property is not subdivided it's one property and it has two dwelling units if somebody wanted to like have the main house for themselves they could and if they had in-laws or um parents grandparents they could you know um have the smaller house for them um but um uh in Princeton you can sell both houses separately developer Moyes tabes building a large house and an Adu on the same lot the Adu must have a kitchen and a bathroom and no more than two bedrooms with a 250,000 unit affordable housing deficit in New Jersey adus offer what housing Advocates call Gentle density gentle density like accessory dwelling units is density that is not all at once it gradually creates more housing over time it doesn't overwhelm any infrastructure or schools and quite frankly it doesn't change the visual character of a town in any way Princeton's one of just a handful of New Jersey towns including Montclair and Maplewood that have adopted ordinances enabling adus but Governor Murphy and lawmakers want to expand the initiative Statewide they're also usually offered at a more affordable rental price than market rate so it truly is an opportunity to have affordable housing too in the community Britney Timberlake's co-sponsoring a bill that would set Statewide standards for adus it requires municipalities to allow accessory dwellings with limited exceptions ban selling adus separately from the primary residents and requires towns promote Adu construction to meet affordable housing demands the bills getting some push back from towns worried about preserving single family home neighborhoods there are some concerns from some of the municipalities you know they want to be able to opt out of this but then what's the point of the legislation um you can do things to make sure that it fits for your community Governor Murphy's proposed budget includes $10 million in Municipal grants for a Statewide Adu pilot project the AARP is fully behind the idea to help retired folks afford to age in place Michelle's counting on that so that when we retired we would be able to um you know take in a little extra income as for this new Adu it's expected to list for about a million dollars which in Princeton is apparently considered affordable I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news [Music]