DATE: Thursday, September 11, 1997          TAG: 9709110673

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TONI GUAGENTI, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   56 lines

BEACH PLANNERS: ALLOW HOME ADDITIONS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS PROPOSALS, WHICH REQUIRE COUNCIL'S OK, PERMIT SUITES ONLY FOR SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES.

Residents will have an easier time building additions onto their homes for elderly relatives or other seniors under a proposal endorsed Wednesday by the Planning Commission.

Officials emphasized that the changes would build in safeguards to keep the single-family character of neighborhoods.

The planners' endorsement is only a recommendation to the City Council. The changes are part of a recommendation made last month by a committee studying senior housing issues.

The Senior Housing Committee convened in November to study the need for more retirement options to meet growing demand.

One way to provide folks that flexibility would be to allow them or their relatives to build additions onto single-family homes on any size lot. The additions have been dubbed mother-in-law suites, granny flats, accessory apartments or flex suites.

The law now says the suites must be built on lots of a half-acre or larger. These units include a kitchen area with a stove, which makes them different from most home additions.

``This is a positive step in addressing the retirement needs of those of moderate income,'' said Commissioner Barbara Ferguson, a member of the Senior Housing Committee.

Some commissioners had concerns about the measure.

Commissioner Betsy Atkinson, a real estate agent, wondered what would happen when the owner tries to sell a house with a flex suite.

Senior Housing Committee members Thomas C. Pauls, a city planner, and Andrew M. Friedman, director of the city's Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation, said the committee tried to address those concerns in the ordinance.

They emphasized some of the changes:

Flex suites would be attached only to single-family homes.

A lot would be allowed only one suite.

Both parts of the house must use the same electric and water meters.

The owner must live in the house.

The flex suite or the main dwelling unit must be occupied by at least one person who is 62 or older, or who is disabled.

No flex suite may have a floor area greater than 500 square feet or 30 percent of the floor area of the principal structure, whichever is greater.

A permit would be required to have a flex suite; the permit must be renewed annually with the Planning Department.

The permit would include the owner's signature, a deed or current tax bill showing who owns the property, and a statement by the owner saying the suite or the main dwelling unit would be occupied by at least one person who is 62 or older, or disabled.

Commissioner Thomas Betz wanted to make sure that those applying for a flex suite know that certain subdivisions might not allow them as part of their homeowners association rules or covenants.

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