Comments on: Meeting of the Tiny Minds

By: Michael Janzen

Michael Janzen — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:40:41 +0000

Hi Ed,

The short answer is that every community is different so there is no one right answer to getting any size house approved by a planning department.

A few folks in the community wrote about this recently: http://smalllivingjournal.com/category/toughest-obstacles-solutions-transition-simple-lifestyle/

But my short version of the answer is:

1. Most communities have minimum size restrictions that are much larger than tiny houses. In these cases building on wheels makes it more like an RV so planning departments are not a concern. Parking the trailer somewhere will fall under local ordinances enforced by law enforcement.

2. Some communities just don’t care what you build but these tend to be the exception.

3. Property that is zoned multi-family often doesn’t have the same minimum unit size restrictions that single-family have so it you have a lot zoned multi-family you might be able to build 2+ tiny houses and fall into the local rules just fine.

4. The paths of least resistance are: build mobile and find a legal safe place to park and live in the house -and/or- find a community without minimum size restrictions.

Also… no matter which way you go be sure to research insurance (and financing if you plan to go this route) because some agents understand and support alternative housing and full-time RV living and others do not.

By: Ed Swope

Ed Swope — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:49:03 +0000

Hello, as a person interested in tiny homes, I was wondering if anyone had put together any kind of list as to where tiny homes where known to be legal. I called the permit office in my county here in SD and they didn’t even seem to know what a tiny home was.

By: The Sonoma Shanty - Workshops, Kits, Plans, Tiny Houses | Tiny House Design

The Sonoma Shanty - Workshops, Kits, Plans, Tiny Houses | Tiny House Design — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:55:30 +0000

[...] Tiny House in Sonoma County, California. Jay called it, a meeting of the tiny minds. You can read more about that gathering here and on Kent’s [...]

By: J.R. vanLienden

J.R. vanLienden — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:44:57 +0000

I would love to hear if a convention of sorts gets off the ground as we are just about to build our first ECO friendly tiny house using much commercially available recycled materials. I got hooked a couple of years ago with the tiny houses and have been waiting for the right timing to start building them and now is the time. Thanks for keeping a positive movement of tiny minds!

By: Lynne

Lynne — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 07:45:10 +0000

If I had to choose one dream, it would be to grow old in my tiny house. It would be especially nice if it was on land with other tiny houses in a community that was neither commune, nor a conscious community. Just folks. In our tiny houses. Being legally allowed to build and live as we see fit.

I am 41 in a month and have struck out at finding that corner of land to perch on. But I won’t stop dreaming of it or looking for it. This bunch here, you raise my spirits! many thanks, as well as to fellow commenters.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:56:28 +0000

Sounds like a great meeting, and as others have said, nice to see faces to go with the names.

And thanks for explaining why Jay is on crutches—I was like “what on earth?” when I saw the photo. He does seem in good spirits, however.

By: Christina

Christina — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:23:11 +0000

Oh no! Poor Jay. Why is it always SUV drivers that seem to not see cyclists and smaller vehicles?

By: EJ

EJ — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:15:14 +0000

I hope lots of good things come from this meeting. You must have had a great time. Tiny House Expo sounds great. I hope it will happen and have lots of web coverage so that those of us who live in the boonies can “attend”.

Six people in that tiny house is impressive!

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:09:10 +0000

It’s great to see everyone together. It’s good to put faces with the names.

Glad Jay is doing well too!
~Dan

By: Olivia

Olivia — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:56:31 +0000

I’ve been dreaming of a tiny house since I was just a small child. I’m still dreaming of a tiny house while I struggle to figure out how to pay the mortgage on my 1500sq ft home. While others in my neighborhood are planning how to bump up their roof or extend out the back; I’m dreaming of downsizing. In reality my one year old son and I need less then half of the square footage we have currently. If you plan an expo I will come.