The City of La Crosse has unveiled contest-winning plans for Accessory Dwelling Units in the community. La Crosse Environmental and Sustainability Planner, Lewis Kuhlman, showcased the plans determined the best at an event Thursday night.

The plans are the result of a contest funded the AARP, whose national organization has made the units part of its livable communities for seniors efforts.

Kuhlman spoke on La Crosse Talk earlier Thursday about how these visual examples are important to spark ideas.

Dwelling unites are a mechanism to increase the amount of housing in the City. Think of them as, usually single-bedroom, tiny homes, with plumbing and kitchens, in your backyard or built above your garage (also called carriage houses).

Carriage houses are a bit more complicated, needing to ensure frost levels are factored into garage foundations and that current garage height restrictions limit their ability right now. The height challenge could be changes as part of the zoning overhauls expected to come with new consultants hired.

Kuhlman also touched on one of his favorite projects – the City of La Crosse Planning Department working with one of the middle schools to redesign a particular property in La Crosse as a learning exercise. This year it was the Trane Headquarters down on the Southside.

What is typically is two middle school classes working on the project got expanded to five at Logan Middle School this year, said Kuhlman. He says the ideas often have a lot of fun factored in such as spring sidewalks, but it is a great way to engage students in community projects.

For more information and to contribute to the campaign, call 608.781.2122

La Crosse Talk airs weekdays at 6-8 a.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.