County-City Building in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Jeff Motz/KFOR News)LINCOLN–(KFOR Mar. 31)–Accessory dwelling units in Lincoln will be deregulated, under a 7-0 decision made Monday by the Lincoln City Council. The move would bring down the cost of housing in Lincoln. Accessory dwelling units are se cond, smaller homes that can be connected to a main home or detached, first allowed in Lincoln back in 2017.  That meant that only 24% of parcels in lower-density, single-family districts were large enough for an ADU. However, few have been built due to regulations that were around. What will be eliminated is the restriction that ADUs could not exceed the height of the main home and requirement of detached ADUs meet the setback of a main home. The ordinance, however, does not change a number of other requirements around ADUs, including the requirement that ADUs can’t be more than 800 square feet or 40% of the main home.  Also staying the same, an ADU can only be one bedroom, the lot owner must live on the property, an ADU must share utility connections with the main home, one additional parking stall is required for an ADU and properties with ADUs are subject to a deed restriction stating that the ADU can’t be sold separately. City Council member Tom Beckius said, “This proposal to deregulate ADUs to make them more prevalent and affordable is a step in the right direction.” Included in the proposal from David Cary, the director of Lincoln’s Development and Planning Department is a cut to lot-size requirements, allowing ADUs on 80% of single-family parcels of land.         ...read more read less