Don’t sell mom’s house quite yet, her apartment may not be ready for a while.

The Bonney Lake city council Tuesday night rejected the idea of allowing detached additional dwelling units (ADUs) – commonly known as mother-in-law apartments – in R1 zoning, which compromises most of the city.

The council has discussed the issue for several weeks, but it did not receive enough support during the council workshop to move forward to a vote of the full council.

Presently, ADUs are allowed in R2 and R3 zoning, which allow multi-family housing. If passed, the ordinance would have made ADUs a conditional use within R1 zones.

“It’s not broke, we don’t need to fix it,” councilmember Randy McKibbin said.

The issue was brought forward by the Planning Commission because of complaints heard after the council in 2009 rezoned properties on Inlet Island and the Church Lake area from R2 to R1. At that time, according to a memo from Planning Commission chair Grant Sulham, the main complaint from property owners involved no longer being allowed to build ADUs on their property.

In his memo, Sulham listed the pros and cons for allowing ADUs in R1 zones, including as pros the ability to allow property owners to house aging parents or adult children, extra income, affordable housing options, and an ability to help the city meet density goals.

On the other side of the coin, Sulham noted allowing ADUs essentially makes the entire city a multi-family zone, which though not inherently a downside, “it may be perceived as such.”

“The Planning commission finds that ADUs may be beneficial in R-1, but we are concerned with the negative impacts that an ADU might create in a single-family neighborhood,” he wrote.

The commission first made its recommendation Nov. 9. At that time, planning commissioner Brad Dahl highlighted the potential for additional income.

“In light of the economy now it seems like a good idea to allow them,” he told the council.

Councilmemebrs, however, did not seem to be swayed and ultimately felt allowing ADUs in single-family residential zoning would essentially make the R-1 an R-2 zone.

“It makes it messy and we should not do that,” Councilmember Jim Rackley said Tuesday, noting that he was originally for the ordinance but has reconsidered.

Only Councilmember Dan Decker seemed to support the ordinance.

Though the issue failed to gain enough support to be placed on a full council agenda, the council agreed to re-visit the issue next year.