The City of Norwalk’s zoning regulations are in the process of conforming to Iowa State Senate File 592, which was approved in May. File 592 puts a requirement in place to not allow cities to prevent accessory dwelling units from being built. In its most recent agenda statement, the City of Norwalk defined accessory dwelling units as “an additional residential dwelling unit located on the same lot as a single-family residence that is either attached to or detached from the single-family residence” and “contains its own kitchen, sleeping area, and bathroom facilities.” Norwalk City Manager Luke Nelson tells KNIA News that the concept of “ADUs” has been around for a while, but not necessarily in Norwalk.

“It started out as more of a place where, let’s say that you have an aging parent. You don’t really want them in your house with you, but you want to accommodate them on your property. Some communities would allow you to build some kind of small structure, secondary structure, for living purposes on your own property. The State of Iowa stepped in, and within the past couple years, they made a requirement that cities could not prevent ADUs from being built. So, this was just simply an ordinance implementing what the State of Iowa requires us to allow.”

The ordinance, which would amend the Norwalk City Code to adopt a zoning amendment related to accessory dwelling units, had its second reading at the Norwalk City Council’s meeting on September 18th. 

The full interview with Luke Nelson can be heard below.