With inflation hitting the housing market at the same time, there is a need for affordable housing other than impersonal multi-story apartments, it’s nice to see Planning and Zoning ordinances changed for the better.
The proposed text amendment would recognize “tiny homes on wheels” as a recreational vehicle with stricter regulations. Currently, city code only recognizes motor homes, travel trailers and camping trailers as RVs.
Tiny homes on wheels are portable homes meant to be parked in one location on a semi-permanent basis. Typically sided with stone, vinyl, and wood, they have become a more popular housing option for essential workers in ski resort towns such as Telluride, Colorado. Examples of tiny homes can be seen at The Meadows RV Park, south of Ketchum.
Under the proposed ordinance, tiny homes on wheels would need to have a footprint between 100 and 400 square feet, be licensed and registered annually with the Idaho Transportation Department Division of Motor Vehicles and have “provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.”
Occupants would have the option to permanently hook onto the existing municipal water line and sewer system, according to Community Development Director Robyn Davis. Homes “in a state of disrepair or disintegration” would be towed away, and the city would work with the Hailey Police Department in the event of disputes between occupants and property owners, she said.
To allow for towing at any given moment, wheels would need to stay on the structure and any porch deck or other exterior addition would have to be freestanding or easily detachable.
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