Category: Tiny House Laws

Posts about tiny house laws & zoning regulations

Tiny House Lovers Unite! Help Make Tinies Legal

Next Steps for Legal Tiny HousesIf you read my post from October 24th, then you know the tiny house community nationwide is fighting to make living tiny legal. The battle is being waged on many fronts, both locally and across the nation (and even the world, although many other countries don’t seem to place as many restrictions in the way as the U.S. governing authorities do).

One of the ways we’re battling is by making tiny houses legit… in other words, providing a uniform building code that both DIYers and tiny house builders can adhere to, thus easing many of the fears of building inspectors that our homes are not safe or well-built. Neither of the existing codes for traditional homes or RVs truly apply to tiny houses.

So, as I reported in the other post, the new code appendix that was crafted by Andrew Morrison passed the initial recommendation vote of the ICC. Now it’s time for the rest of us to contact our local building authorities who are members of the ICC to urge them to vote affirmatively for this code.

I know most people in the U.S. are currently distracted by our upcoming presidential election… and rightly so. But this is important, folks, so if you love tiny houses and hope to live in one someday (or you just support my right and others to choose our dwelling size), then please do what you can to help!

It’d be great if you could talk in person or on the phone with these reps, but if nothing else, can you send an email?

This article (click the link) provides all the details, as well as a letter you can even copy & paste right into your email program. Easy peasy! (NOTE: You can double click the infographic in this article to see it in more detail.)

Thank you!

Until next time,

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A Historic Day for the Tiny House Community

ICC Hearings - Tiny House Community Leaders
Tiny House Community Leaders

On Sunday, 10 leaders in our nationwide tiny house community, including Andrew Morrison, BA Norgaard and Macy Miller, spoke before the ICC in Kansas City, MO in support of a brand new building code for tiny houses. It was designed to address many of the hot issues regarding tiny houses, including secondary egress, loft height and more.

The unthinkable happened! The council recommended by a strong majority that the code proposal be endorsed. This does not make it a done deal. It simply means that the new code advances to the next step, which is a vote by the nationwide membership of the ICC. So, we still have a lot of work before us until this becomes a reality.

What was unprecedented with this was that the council stated that such new type proposals “never” pass on the first presentation. It usually takes multiple presentations over 6 to 9 years before such things pass.

So what made the difference this time? Well, they said it was the people and the human stories… and seeing that the people proposing this new code for tiny homes aren’t looking to do anything radical or to subvert society. They’re just looking for the option to determine the size of their homes, while following industry standards for solid construction and safety. It didn’t hurt that Macy Miller (our Boise tiny house representative) was able to speak eloquently and firsthand of her imminent eviction from her home of 3.5 years… for no good reason, other than Boise city zoning inspectors don’t know how to classify her home! Read more

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Helping Tiny Houses Get Legal

Sign the tiny house petition
Sign the tiny house petition!

The tiny house movement is growing; there can be no denying that fact. There are many reasons. Some people, like us, just want less to take care of and freedom from a mortgage. Others want to decrease their carbon footprint and use more efficient energy, going off grid. And others just want to live a less traditional life.

No one reason is better than another. It just comes down to your “why,” what is important to you in life and what your priorities are.

To understand how fast this movement is growing, you have only to look at the proliferation of tiny house-oriented TV programming. Or at the tens of thousands of people who visited the Tiny House Jamboree in Colorado Springs this past August. Or the 32,000 members of the Tiny House People group on Facebook. Or at the number of tiny house videos and tiny house blogs online. It’s not just a fad… it’s an acceptance of a new way of life!

But whatever our reasons for going tiny, one thing is for sure. The laws and lawmakers of our country are not ready for it, for the most part. Sure, there are a few enlightened towns and cities who are welcoming tiny house dwellers and even tiny house communities, such as Ojai, CA, Portland, OR, Salida, CO and even Austin, TX. Read more

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Where to Go Tiny in the U.S.

Tiny homes and the tiny house movement seem to be hitting the news on a regular basis these days. This movement is growing, folks! And we are so excited to be part of it. But the truth is, tiny homes have not really found widespread acceptance yet in the wider span of our society.

Zoning laws and even often unfounded fears have forced most tiny housers to either go rogue and park their tinies in the country or hidden on someone else’s property. Or to live in RV parks or mobile home parks, as we’re having to do.

However, it seems there have been a lot of tiny houses built, despite this fact. Just check out this article by gobankingrates.com to see all the already built tiny homes that are for sale in various cities around the U.S. Pretty fascinating!

https://www.gobankingrates.com/mortgage-rates/cities-most-tiny-homes/

Till next time,

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Finding a Home for Our Tiny

Well, this is proving to be more difficult than we had anticipated. We knew that finding a place to “park” our tiny home might be a little challenging, but when we discovered one of the workers at Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses (our builder) lives in a tiny home community within a mobile home park, things seemed to be looking up… except, as I related a couple of posts ago, they turned out to be non-dog friendly.

So, last Saturday, we made a wrong turn when looking for a hiking trailhead and discovered a little gem of a mobile home village in the beautiful country north of Durango (only a few miles out of town). We met the manager as we were driving around and she was extremely intrigued by the story of our tiny home. As it turned out, they had an empty pad too!

We loved the tree-shaded lot and the price was super low too. Plus, they are dog-friendly! It seemed like our prayers were answered, but the manager said she needed to check with the owner. Days went by, and I texted her pictures of other tiny home similar to ours and our board colors. She seemed worried whether the owner would like our colors. Really?

Well, the axe fell today. We were rejected. Though the manager fought hard for us, in the end, the owner was not willing to do something different and let us into her park… even though she has let in an old run-down RV. Still, the thought of our adorable tiny home on wheels was something she couldn’t accept.

So, now it’s back to the drawing board once again. There are quite a few mobile home parks in the area. The question is whether they are dog-friendly, affordable and have an available lot. Oh yeah… and will they be open to a tiny house?

Good thing our tiny home is behind schedule!

Till next time,

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