Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Council member Mona Chavarria also voted no to grant the conditional use permit at the Feb. 23 meeting.
Pearland City Council denied a conditional use permit request to build an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, on a home, citing concerns that the space could be used in the future to rent to non-family members.
In February, the city banned short-term rentals in areas zoned for residential use, according to previous reporting by Community Impact.
The details
Pearland City Council voted 3-4 to deny an amended motion to Pearland resident David Deriso to build a 665-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom addition to his home’s garage at its Feb. 23 meeting.
Council members Joseph Koza, Layni Cade, Mona Chavarria and Rick Fernandez voted against the amended motion to grant the permit.
The total proposed accessory structure was 1,212 square feet and was fully compliant with the city’s requirement that an ADU must be less than 50% of a primary dwelling’s size, according to city documents.
The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-2 to recommend approval of the CUP at its Feb. 2 meeting, according to city documents.
The debate
Deriso said he intended to build the unit for his mother to live in and age with dignity, and he had no intention of using the ADU as a rental in the future.
However, some council members expressed concern that the space could be used as a short-term rental decades from now if the property were sold.
Staff recommended approving the motion only with an amendment requiring that the dwelling unit be occupied by someone related to the person living in the primary dwelling. Staff also acknowledged that proving whether the occupants are related would be difficult to enforce.
In their own words
Council member Tony Carbone said he commended Deriso for wanting to build a space to honor his aging mother, but asked that the permit would have “teeth” to ensure the space wouldn’t be used as a short-term rental in the future.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got a homeowner who wants to build a 600-square-foot [ADU] for his mom to live her final day,” Carbone said at the meeting. “I struggle saying no with that.”
Carbone, who voted to approve the permit, said that he was particularly concerned about the density of short-term rentals in the area near the home.
“It’s not lost on me when you go to the map, the street behind you is Verona, which is probably the biggest nightmare we’ve dealt with in terms of short-term rentals,” Carbone said at the meeting.
