Snowmass HOA rules could impact new accessory employee unit requirements

The Town of Snowmass Village is pausing an effort to update its accessory dwelling unit requirements after the Snowmass Homeowners Association said the regulations would not apply to the nearly 900 homes in the association.

Senior Planner Jim Wahlstrom as well as Community Development Director Dave Shinneman introduced plans approved by the town’s planning commission to combine the requirements for accessory employee units (AEUs) and accessory caretaker units (ACUs) into accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The town hopes to crack down on ADU noncompliance by maintaining an allowance for town inspections and introducing new incentives for homeowners who build ADUs. Under the proposed new standards, homeowners could build up to 1,000 square feet of extra floor area beyond their property’s maximum floor area without applying a floor area excise tax (FAET).

“The primary goal is if somebody wants to provide an extra 1,000 square feet on their home for an employee unit, we should allow that to happen; that’s the goal we’re aiming for,” said Town Manager Clint Kinney.

The new regulations were first proposed in the town’s 2018 comprehensive plan and are meant to incentivize Snowmass homeowners to create ADUs to provide more accessible and affordable housing for employees and seniors, according to the ordinance. They are also meant to improve monitoring on the existing 97 ADUs in Snowmass, of which 85 are caretaker units and 12 are employee units. 

Under current regulations, an ACU only requires an initial registration. AEUs are slightly more strict, requiring an initial registration and an annual renewal through the town, but the town has struggled to get owners to complete renewals. 

The new provision would also require an ADU to be deed-restricted and enter into a housing agreement with the town, Shinneman said. 

But Paul Taddune, attorney for the Snowmass HOA, said the HOA’s covenants for the 874 homes it governs wouldn’t allow the construction of an ADU.

“The association covenants don’t allow duplex use, even though you’re not going to call it a duplex,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the town ordinance or the HOA covenants would have jurisdiction over ADUs. About 87% of the homes in Snowmass are governed by the Snowmass HOA covenants, and it is unclear where the existing 97 ADUs are.

Taddune said he was not aware of any ADUs in homes governed by the HOA, but John Kenney, manager of the Snowmass HOA, said, “There’s empirical evidence they exist, (but) there’s no firm data there are kitchens within these units.”

The covenants require all single-family homes to have no more than one full kitchen, he said. 

“The HOA is very supportive of the nobility, of the intent of this ordinance: employee housing,” he said. “But in the spirit and the verbiage of the declarations and covenants is prohibited to do what is actually required in this ordinance, which is to create a kitchen and living facilities for the employee or the extra family or whoever occupies that, and that is expressly prohibited in the declarations and the covenants.”

Changing the covenants would require a supermajority vote from the HOA board, which he said often struggles to reach a quorum on other votes, like budget decisions.

The Snowmass HOA covenants wouldn’t prevent the town from approving the ordinance; it would just apply to a small sliver of the nearly 1,000 single-family homes in Snowmass. 

“Seems to me, if (ADUs) exist within your HOAs, then the onus is really on you guys (i.e., HOA), that you somehow allowed this to happen over the years, and it’s up to you to make sure it doesn’t happen going forward,” said Council member Tom Fridstein. “I don’t think that prevents the town from passing an ordinance, though it may not apply to 874 houses, which I realize is most of the houses in town, but it wouldn’t necessarily prevent the town from putting it in place.”

Council member Susan Marolt encouraged Taddune to ask homeowners if they were interested in the town’s ADU program. But Taddune said the HOA board has a fiduciary responsibility to enforce covenants, amending the declarations is complicated, and the board would likely not recommend amending the declarations to allow for ADUs.

It would require amending the covenant amendment procedure before then amending the actual covenant, he said.

The Town Council pushed back the conversation and vote on the ordinance to allow for more conversation between town staff and the Snowmass HOA. Mayor Bill Madsen said the town must determine where all 97 ADUs are and how the town’s code can overlay with the HOA’s covenants.

“I think you have to appreciate the situation that we’re in, and that there is a major housing crisis in this valley, and we are trying to think outside the box,” said Council member Alyssa Shenk. “People don’t want two-story buildings and this and that, and you’ve got to be able to have a variety. When your covenants were created, there wasn’t this housing crisis … but I think for a lot of people, this could be a game-changing experience.”