Massachusetts has spent the past two years making it easier for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units, but in Marblehead, figuring out how those rules apply to individual projects has proven more complicated.
The town has received 12 ADU applications since 2024, according to Community Development and Planning Director Brendan Callahan.
Three applications were submitted and approved in 2024, another three were approved in 2025, and four were approved through June 2026. Two remained pending as of June.
The confusion comes as municipalities across the state are trying to reconcile a new state law allowing more ADUs by right with local zoning rules while also adapting to a separate set of state changes that make it easier for property owners to obtain zoning variances.
The two changes intersect when an ADU is allowed by right, but the structure proposed to contain it does not comply with the rest of the town’s zoning rules.
That has left Marblehead and other communities working through questions about which local boards have authority when an ADU requires a variance, and how the new rules apply to applications already in the permitting process when the changes took effect.
“Everyone has these questions,” said Nina Pickering-Cook, a Marblehead resident and Boston attorney. “Local planning offices are just reeling from the number of changes that they are having to navigate at the same time when people are coming in with applications… so it’s just a lot for local planning departments and town halls to try to digest.”
What changed for ADUs?
The Affordable Homes Act, signed into law in 2024, established a statewide framework allowing qualifying ADUs of up to 900 square feet — or half the floor area of the principal dwelling, whichever is smaller — to be built by right in single-family residential zoning districts.
Before that law, Marblehead regulated ADUs through a 2023 local bylaw that imposed tighter restrictions and required a special permit.
The state law superseded local provisions that conflicted with the new requirements.
To bring its local regulations into compliance, voters approved changes to the town’s zoning bylaw at the May 4 Town Meeting.
Among other changes, the amendments made qualifying ADUs a by-right use and established a site-plan review process through which the Planning Board can impose conditions but cannot deny a qualifying ADU.
But the new bylaw did not eliminate Marblehead’s other zoning requirements.
An ADU can be by right and still need a variance
A qualifying ADU can be built by right, but the proposed structure still has to comply with applicable dimensional requirements, including setbacks, height and other local restrictions.
For example, an ADU created entirely within an existing home, such as through a basement or attic conversion, may not create the same dimensional problems as an addition.
But if accommodating the ADU requires expanding an existing structure, the applicant may need a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Pickering-Cook said the state’s ADU and variances changes can work together in favor of homeowners seeking to add housing.
“If an ADU is allowed by right, but there is no space on the property because it can’t comply with whatever the setbacks are, that person can now go forward and seek a variance for their protected-use ADU,” she said.
The homeowner could argue that the property presents a “practical difficulty,” she said, such as the small lots common in the Old & Historic District.
“And it’ll be up to the ZBAs whether or not that person gets to build their ADU,” Pickering-Cook said. “It allows for an ADU in places that otherwise could be restricted or challenged.”
Who handles the application?
The town initially believed applicants needed to go before the Planning Board first.
After consulting with town counsel Adam Costa, officials concluded that approval of the ADU itself is a staff-level decision.
If the project also requires a variance, however, the applicant may need to appear before the ZBA separately.
“Some of the applications that we’ve had challenges with are … some of these projects need to go to ZBA,” Callahan said.
He said town officials have been working with Costa, the Planning Board chair and the ZBA chair to clarify the process.
Callahan described a scenario in which a homeowner wants to build an ADU on a garage.
“So because it’s a variance,” he said, “they get the ADU but then they got to still go to the ZBA and get the variance to build the garage.”
For one family, the uncertainty has come at a cost
For Robert Campbell and his wife, the state’s push to make ADUs easier to build has translated into months of uncertainty.
The couple is trying to build an ADU on Campbell’s in-laws’ Lucia Road property. Both grew up in Marblehead, and Campbell said the family wants the ADU to allow his in-laws to age in place while preserving the home where his wife grew up.
“We’re deeply connected to the town and its future. We want to help my in-laws age in place and keep the house my wife grew up in,” Campbell said. “We don’t always have as much time as we want with the ones we love. We’re just trying to get as much time together as possible.”
The family first met with an architect March 26 and submitted its ADU application May 22, along with the $75 application fee and stamped plans, Campbell said.
He said the family was initially told the application was ready to proceed to the July ZBA meeting.
“We were effectively told ‘this follows the rules, so you don’t need to go to the planning board’,” Campbell said in an email.
Then, on June 8, his architect was told the project did need to go before the Planning Board because of recent rule changes. The submission deadline was the following day, he said.
The family subsequently received conflicting information about which board needed to review the application first.
“We had numerous back and forths with the town, including them calling us twice within two hours telling us conflicting information about which board had to see us first,” he said.
They eventually hired a local attorney to help navigate the process.
Outdated town information added another complication
Campbell also flagged discrepancies between the town’s online zoning materials and the rules he said the family was later told applied to its project.
The Current independently reviewed the town’s online zoning code and ADU application and verified the discrepancies.
The online zoning bylaw lists a maximum ADU size of 1,000 square feet, while the state law limits a qualifying ADU to 900 square feet or half the floor area of the principal dwelling, whichever is smaller.
Marblehead’s updated bylaw, approved at Town Meeting, reflects the 900-square-foot limit.
As of publication, the online zoning code had not been updated to reflect the change.
The town’s ADU application form also contained an older definition of a short-term rental based on stays of fewer than 90 days. The bylaw approved at Town Meeting uses a 31-day threshold.
Campbell said his architect relied on the information available online when preparing the family’s plans.
The family subsequently had to reduce the size of the ADU, revise the plot plan multiple times and print multiple sets of plans for board review, Campbell said.
‘Incredibly frustrating’
The application has not yet gone before either board.
Campbell said the family was scheduled for its first Planning Board meeting Sept. 8 and would need to schedule a ZBA appearance afterward.
“I actually have given up trying to understand what’s holding us up and defer everything to our lawyer,” he said. “The amount of conflicting information given has been incredibly frustrating.”
The delays have already cost the family thousands of dollars in additional architect, surveyor and legal expenses, he said.
Campbell said the family had expected the process to be relatively straightforward because the property is not in a historic or shoreline district and the project is intended to allow family members to age in place.
“We’re still attempting to move forward, but given the uncertainty and multiple continuances we see and hear about, we are not optimistic about any timeline,” he said.
A statewide transition
Marblehead’s questions are part of a broader adjustment underway across Massachusetts.
Adam Chapdelaine, CEO and executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association said he has heard concerns from municipalities about how the new ADU rules apply, particularly when applications intersect with recent zoning changes.
“It’s not my sense that there is yet a common understanding,” Chapdelaine said when asked whether there is a statewide understanding of how ADU applications requiring dimensional variances should move through the local permitting process. “I think that speaks to our broader policy position … that keeping these authorities at the local level is a good way to avoid confusion.”
He said the rule changes are creating uncertainty at the local level even though the state is trying to accelerate housing production.
“Unfortunately what we’re seeing here with both the ADU as of right changes and now layered on top of that, these variance changes … have only furthered uncertainty and that seems to run counter to the intention of the original passage,” Chapdelaine said.
He said municipalities need time and guidance to adjust.
“We would always want to advocate for a slower phase in so that people have more time to respond,” Chapdelaine said. “We certainly would have appreciated there being a slower adoption period so that communities wouldn’t have been instantly, potentially in noncompliance upon passage.”
What happens next
For Marblehead, the process is still evolving with officials working with town counsel to establish a consistent process.
The Planning Board is scheduled to consider four ADU applications on Sept. 8, which could provide clarity on how the new permitting process works For now, Callahan said, Marblehead is working through the questions application by application.
“We’re working with legal and learning as we go really because it’s so new,” he said.
