QUINCY — Rules for building “co-living housing” in Quincy were sent back for further review by Quincy City Council members following a discussion of the process Tuesday.  

“I would recommend that all these be a conditional use permit, so that the neighbors who live close by are given an opportunity to see what’s going on, what the plan is, and if they think it’s going to be something that’s going to affect them,” said Council Member Dave Dormier. 

Council members approved changes to city codes that will allow co-living housing at the Feb. 17 meeting. Co-living housing would allow people to build housing with separate bedrooms but shared kitchens and possibly shared bathrooms. A co-living bedroom space can include a sitting room and kitchenette, but not a full kitchen. 

In answer to a question from Council Member Josey Ferguson, Municipal Services Director Carl Worley said it’s a different type of housing from either apartments or multi-unit housing like triplexes or fourplexes. 

“It’s more like leasing a regular room and then having a common living area,” Worley said. “It’s going to be more like you have a common kitchen area and you have separate sleeping areas.”  

Worley said people will be allowed to build co-living housing in areas of town with at least six multi-family residential units. It will be allowed in areas zoned for mixed use, which include both single family and multi-family residences.  

In Quincy, that means they would be allowed in most existing areas of town as well as new development, Worley said.  

Standards for co-living housing can’t be more restrictive than what’s established for other kinds of multi-family housing, Worley said. That means there could be restrictions on requiring conditional use permits.  

“(In the staff report) there is a paragraph that says cities may only require a review notice or public meeting for co-living housing that is required for other types of residential uses in the same location. In other words, review for co-living housing cannot be held to a different standard than review for other residential uses,” Worley said.  

Dormier said he would prefer to include the conditional use designation for all proposed co-living development, because that would require people living in a neighborhood to be notified.  

“Then at least the neighbors have an opportunity to decide what they want in their neighborhood,” he said.