Dear Editor,
New zoning that encourages backyard cottages could help solve housing issues and slow down school population increases.
Let’s look at my property. It is one of the last remaining non-expanded houses on the 100 block of Windsor Ave. Our house sits on the original 1928 footprint, so there is plenty of space to build a one-bedroom cottage in the back corner with current impervious coverage requirements. This would create ideal housing in town for both our older and younger citizens, while protecting original housing stock. Additionally, it would make it much easier for my husband and I to age in place.
Right now my father (HMHS class of 1959) lives in a small rancher in Erlton with my stepmother. If something happens to either one of them, a backyard cottage in Haddonfield would be perfect. Our son (HMHS class of 2019) wants to be a teacher. He currently lives in his old bedroom because housing costs are far too high to move out. If he gets a teaching job in a nearby town, living in a backyard cottage in the walkable community he knows and loves would be perfect until he can afford his own home.
Conversely, let’s look at what happens if my husband and I follow an all-too-common Haddonfield path and sell our modest 1500 square foot home because we no longer “need” the schools. Our house will immediately be bought by a builder and torn down, rising up as an over 3,000 square foot McMansion. Then a cycle of at least three kids through the district every 15-20 years will begin. Allowing backyard cottages will dramatically slow that cycle.
Current zoning actively discourages protecting original housing and encourages tear downs by focusing on single-family homes. The new master plan offers some encouragement for backyard cottages (accessory dwelling units or ADUs in planner lingo). Let’s make sure ADU zoning setbacks are modified to allow
residents to build in the back corners and not 15 feet from all property lines making such projects untenable.
This is an opportunity for Haddonfield to be truly proactive, rather than reactive, as we look for creative solutions to the town’s housing and student population issues.
Susan Ainsworth
Haddonfield
