By Matthew K. Roy
PEABODY — It used to be the worst part of Joyce Cucchiara's Sunday.
After dinner at Cucchiara's house, her mother, now 79, would leave and drive home. It was a short commute, barely more than a mile to a neighborhood on the other side of Lowell Street, but it was still hard for Cucchiara to watch her mom, Irene, depart.
Beginning last June, that Sunday journey became considerably shorter. Irene now walks up some stairs to a new "in-law apartment" Cucchiara built over her garage. There she has a small kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom of her own.
Such spaces are called family accessory living areas in Peabody, and they are growing in popularity as the local population ages and the struggling economy puts more pressure on senior citizens' pocketbooks.
In Cucchiara's mom's case, it had been nine years since her husband had passed away, and she was in a Herrick Road home that was becoming too expensive and too hard for her to maintain by herself.
"It's working out great," Cucchiara said of the new arrangement. "She loves it, and all her expenses have gone away."
Peabody has had an ordinance for such apartments, dubbed "FALAs," in place since 1996. It outlines various requirements that homeowners must satisfy to receive a special permit from the City Council.
A FALA must be for family members — brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, grandchildren or adult children. It cannot be more than 700 square feet and, if an addition, its exterior must match the appearance of the existing home. Family members must park on site and access their apartment through a home's front door, unless the building inspector approves construction of a secondary entrance.
"We've seen much more interest and more people applying for it, and I think it has a lot to do with the economy," Building Commissioner Kevin Goggin said. And it is not just children looking out for their parents. At least one of the seven FALAs approved within the last year was for a recent college graduate, Goggin said.
Its ordinance makes Peabody unique compared to neighboring cities. Homeowners in Beverly and Salem have to get a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals to construct something similar to a FALA.
Danvers passed a bylaw in 2007 that grandfathered 99 in-law apartments. Since then the town has approved a handful of what are called "Extended Family Living Areas" a year, according to Building Inspector Richard Maloney.
Peabody has 344 FALAs. The ordinance compels the city to inspect each one every year and obligates owners to pay a $75 annual fee. Once a family member or members leave a FALA, the permit that allowed for it is deemed to be revoked. The city wants to discourage homeowners from attempting to lease the spaces.
When her mom leaves, Cucchiara, who makes her living selling homes, said the FALA could be transformed into a family or "great" room.
The prevalence of FALAs in Peabody, especially in West Peabody, is tied to larger home lots that are not as common in Salem, Goggin said.
"You've got to have the land area to do it," he said.
Mayor Michael Bonfanti said that he understands why a FALA is an appealing option. "The way the economy is today, families need to help each other out," he said.
It reminds him of the day, maybe 50 years ago, when generations of a family would occupy separate floors of a three-family home.
"It seems like that is what is happening again," Bonfanti said.
On Rutledge Road, an addition to the home of Thomas Rossignoll, a member of Peabody's School Committee, is nearly finished. It will house his wife's parents, Carol and Mike Donlon.
Rossignoll said that the expenses attached to the couple's condominium — utility costs, taxes and a monthly condo fee — were becoming a burden.
"They will have their own space and we will have our own space," Rossignoll said. "(But) if we need something, they're only a holler away."
They could be called upon to baby-sit or be there for board games with Rossignoll's two children.
The FALA frees the Donlons up financially and gives them the opportunity to travel, even on fixed incomes, Carol Donlon said.
It wasn't an easy decision, she said. The couple thought about it for years.
"Both of us looked at them and said, 'Think it through,'" Carol said, referring to the conversation they had after Thomas and his wife, Robin, made the offer.
What is vital, Carol said, is that they get along so well with their daughter and son-in-law.
"I wouldn't do it if the relationship wasn't there," she said.
