HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/27/2018 Item 11, Wiest
Purrington, Teresa
From:LynAnne Wiest <lynannewiest@icloud.com>
Sent:Monday, November 26, 2018 6:10 PM
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Proposed Tiny Home Regulations
To the City Council:
In regards to the proposed regulations on tiny homes, I would like to express my opinion on a few of the items.
First, I am concerned about the time limit placed on the permit for a tiny home. Since the tiny homes are required to
connect to city utilities, landowners are going to have to make a significant investment in this infrastructure. As with any
investment, they will need to be sure that they will get a return on that investment. If it is uncertain that they will be
able to park a tiny home on their property for more than a year (or even three years as the Planning Commission
suggested), this is going to be a significant deterrent to creating space for tiny homes. I see no reason why tiny homes
must be considered “temporary” housing. Our housing crisis is not temporary, so our solutions should not be temporary
either.
Second, I urge the council to remove the “owner occupancy requirement” for tiny homes. Over half of the homes in this
city are rentals, and requiring owner occupancy on the property significantly decreases the feasibility of placing a tiny
home in town. As a compromise, perhaps it would be possible to require the resident of the tiny home to own that tiny
home. In that way, you can have an “owner occupant” on the property, even if they do not own the land it is parked on.
Keep in mind that home ownership is on a downward trend. We all know that the cost of land here is not getting
cheeper, and the majority of the younger generation knows that they will never be able to afford to own their own
traditional home here. Owning a tiny home is a feasible version of home ownership for many.
Third, the Planning Commission added the requirement that the tiny home be built of “traditional building materials.”
This would prohibit RVs and travel trailers from being used. If tiny homes are going to look just like small houses, why is
it necessary to place the tiny home “toward the rear of the property screen from view from any public right-of-way.”? I
am afraid this would create another barrier to placing the tiny home on property. I suggest you allow us to place a tiny
home in a side yard, or even one of those homes where the front yard is unusually large. If you are going to require that
the tiny home look like a traditional home, this seems like an unnecessary requirement.
(As a side note, I believe that there should be a time and place to allow for RVs and travel trailers as a response to our
housing crisis.)
Lastly, I want to encourage you to “be bold” on creating more housing. These are the words Mayor Heidi Harmon used
when she voted to approve the Anholm Bikeway. She saw the significance of moving forward with a controversial issue
because it was for the greater good. I know creating more housing is controversial, but we are desperate. Adding tiny
homes is an incredible solution to this our crisis because it costs the city nothing! You don’t have to spend money on
creating “affordable housing.” Give us an opportunity, and we will create our own housing that is affordable by design!
Thank you for your support of tiny houses! I am looking forward to them becoming a legal option in town!
Sincerely,
LynAnne Wiest
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