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The town council of Amherstburg recently voted to allow tiny homes on foundations with a minimum 323-square-feet (30-square-meters) minimum and within 20 meters distance from the primary dwelling, according to the Windsor Star.
Tiny homes take many different shapes and forms, even when it comes to zoning and real estate. One way to get legal tiny houses back on the map is through RV parks, right? That’s one way. Another way to do it is through ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units), also known as guest houses, secondary dwellings, accessory structures, and the like.
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Town of Amherstburg Votes to Allow ADU Tiny Homes
© microhouseNW – see article here – Top 5 tiny and small house trends in Seattle
The Details: how Amherstburg has legalized some Tiny & Small Homes
Amherstburg will allow secondary dwellings, including tiny houses.
The town’s council voted Monday to allow secondary dwellings in single detached houses, semi-detached houses, row houses and accessory structures, like garages — or tiny houses.
They must be a minimum of 30 square metres or 323 square feet, built on a foundation and be located within 20 metres of the primary dwelling, in the side or back yards.1
Your thoughts?
What do you think about the fact that more and more towns and even cities like Los Angeles are adapting their laws to allow for more development of tiny and small homes? It’s pretty cool, right?
Where else have you heard of tiny homes being legalized kind of like this? Let us know! We’re at tinyhousetalk AT gmail dot com! Thanks!
Learn more
More Stories of Towns Legalizing Tiny
- Breakthrough legislation allows CA homeowners to build up to two ADU’s (Tiny Homes) on their property
- LA Passes Ordinance Making Backyard Tiny Homes Legal
- Living Tiny Legally (Documentary): A Look Into How Tiny Homes Are Becoming Legal!
Also…
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Alex
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NOTHING to celebrate here .
I’ll CELEBRATE
when I can put MY OWN tiny house
on MY OWN land
and not on somebody elses land
or be forced to purchase a home and then live in Tiny House on that property .. .. ..
I agree with Joe. Nothing to celebrate really. It seems by now that alternative living, land ownership, affordable housing, should be encouraged in every city and town. There has been plenty of time to create codes for such dwellings.
Nothing to celebrate? Sorry, but there is. It is a START… remember, rockets weren’t built from the first design… it was an evolution that took an idea to something that can now travel to the moon and even further into the cosmos.
It is the same with allowing tiny homes. One small step for tiny home wanters (is that even a word?) leads to changes in the system which then benefits those further down the track.
Totally Agreed. Should be able to buy raw land and build a tiny house. Around here in rural Hawai’i county, something like half of the homes are unpermitted, because getting a permit isn’t an option since the building codes are so antiquated. If you want a modern tiny home the only way to do it is to be rogue, most just turn a blind eye, but as Hawai’i seems to be wanting to become more ‘civilized’, more silly and antiquated laws seem to get pushed through these days and maybe soon to be enforced?…
You shouldn’t have to build a huge ticky tacky home out of unsustainable materials just to comply to detrimental and backwards permitting standards that encourage waste and create artificial barriers to having shelter.
Although I can see the opinions of the two above commenters, in my opinion, any step forward is a win. Many home owners don’t see these tiny homes as an improvement to anything. However, in Vancouver, B.C. where there is a housing shortage and has been for a decade or more, they permit “lane way homes”. The owner of the property owns the small houses and rent them out. For some families it enables a family to share the property and/or have a mortgage helper. Now this may not be what tiny home owners want, but for many this is a help. With the cost of housing in Vancouver starting at over a million, help from tiny/small houses works.
For those who want to own their own land and have a tiny/small house on it, most cities aren’t going to permit it. Other land owners believe it will devalue their land. City council is made up of politicians and they’re going to do what will get them re elected. What tiny home owners will have to do is present a “business plan” which demonstrates the tiny/small homes will add value to an area and/or provide more affordable housing in an area. A group of tiny home owners might be able to persuade a council to permit a strata of tiny/small homes on a lot. It permits densification without changing the over all atmosphere of an area. Another method of getting a council to change zoning, is to apply for re zoning in an area where property prices are falling and the council is concerned about the general “tone” of an area. A well developed plan might work. It will take time and work. Some times “in fill” lots might be re zoned also. If you have a look at Toyko, they have some very tiny patches of land which they are able to build very interesting homes on. Take something like that to a council you might get what you want. You might also form a group of people who want to build tiny/small homes and purchase a lot to do so. Take that plan to the city and apply for re zoning. Talk to the neighbours in the area to see if they will object and perhaps speak in favour of it. Some times cities won’t change the size of the lots but will permit 4 homes on one lot and the group will own the lot jointly. Usually banks aren’t interested in providing mortgages for this type of thing, but again, its what your business plan is i.e. how you would buy and sell your share should some one die, move, divorce, etc.
I wish our county would allow smaller homes, they changed it from 2.5 ac to 20 ac. min. We were lucky 30 years ago to get one of the last 2.5 ac parcels, but they allow only one home on each parcel. So recently subdivided 20ac. can only have one house. That’s Washington State for you.
With due respect, it isn’t rocket science…I couldn’t help myself with that…a tiny home on a parcel of land is not a giant leap forward from a mobile home on its own land. Everybody deserves the right to home ownership.
It is a step forward when you factor how much resistance there is to allowing anything. Expecting all or nothing isn’t a viable way to expect this to go as that will only maintain the status quo and nothing will change as the powers that be will just say no!
There’s still many people who need to be convinced this is the way to go but that will take a process of steps and concessions before we get there… and part of that is providing examples where it’s shown to work. So every step is important, however small or large you consider it… Real change is a struggle and we have to embrace that struggle if we expect it to actually ever happen…
Need more of these in Texas cities but the McMansion builders own the politicians.