HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/27/2018 Item 11, Schmidt
Purrington, Teresa
From:Richard Schmidt <slobuild@yahoo.com>
Sent:Tuesday, November 27, 2018 1:33 PM
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Item 11, tiny homes on wheels
Item 11, Tiny Home portion of zoning regs Nov. 26, 2018
Dear Council Members,
The progression of the city’s proposals for “tiny homes on wheels” as legal dwellings has progressed from,
1. The reasonable idea that there be some legal and decent place for persons who live in such to park and use them in
the city, to
2. Farce, the notion that it’s OK to have an Airbnb – er, I mean a “tiny home on wheels” – in every back yard or driveway,
to
3. Tragedy, another heist of a good idea by staff more interested in serving the speculative real estate industry than
citizens’ needs, with total disregard that the current proposal will drive up the cost of home-ownership still further, thus
adding tragedy upon farce to the council’s proclamations about standing for “affordable housing.”
Regarding #3, the proposed regs no longer make any pretext they are about tiny homes on wheels, which generally are
about 100-120 square feet including a sleeping loft. Now the proposed regs permit 400 square foot “tiny homes,” which
aren’t what’s understood by “tiny homes on wheels.” (How would anybody cart such a huge thing around the countryside
as they move from one place to another, the supposed advantage of tiny homes on wheels? These are essentially
modular homes carted with a “wide load” truck fore and aft to keep people from ramming into them on the road.) The
proper name for a 400 square foot “tiny home” is “studio apartment.”
Why is the city being disingenuous in not calling these backyard accommodations what they in fact are? Maybe to avoid
additional contention over allowing still more ADUs?
But the biggest tragedy of this proposed reg – or maybe it’s the biggest farce – is staff’s total obliviousness to what this
does to the cost of home ownership in SLO. Have you done any independent research into what an ADU does to the cost
of a house? It adds about $200K to that cost! If you really believe in the merits of home ownership, why would you want
to promote more home price inflation with this move? Even the widespread potential for placing an ADU on a home’s lot
1
increases selling price by adding a “development potential” component to that price above and beyond a home’s base
value. So much for promoting affordable housing!
This approach to “tiny homes on wheels” is poorly thought out. I urge you to postpone consideration of it till it can be
scaled back to what it’s supposed to be about – finding a legal and decent place for persons who live in tiny
homes on wheels to park and use them in the city.
Thank you,
Richard Schmidt
2