The Tiny House Revolution: Part One
If you read our blog from last week, then you learned that while Tiny Houses are a huge and popular trend at the moment, that there are many complications due to zoning laws as related to these Tiny Houses.
On that blog, we discussed how these very complications are taking place in Atlanta.
That being said—Tiny houses are closer than ever to being a reality in Atlanta.
A little over two weeks ago, the Atlanta City Council voted on and actually approved an amendment to city zoning laws allowing “accessory dwelling units.”
This means Tiny Houses.
Tiny House Atlanta, a local advocacy group in Atlanta, called it “a great step in the right direction,” and we at Nashua Builders wholeheartedly agree.
The amendment affects R-5 (two-family residential) zoning, which includes areas in Grant Park, Old Fourth Ward, Edgewood, Candler Park and Inman Park, according to Atlanta Magazine.
The language in the amendment carves out space for accessory dwelling units of larger main structures. A tiny house counts as one of these secondary units, assuming it is less than 750 square feet and has its own kitchen.
While the change sets out possibilities for tiny houses that are satellites of existing homes, it still doesn’t allow for standalone tiny homes on their own lots. The new language in the amendment specifically prohibits subdividing accessory units from the primary house. The amendment also says nothing about tiny homes on wheels.
If you remember from our last blog on the subject, many tiny home owners make their homes into RVs, which subject them to a whole separate set of rules (though they were doing this before this new amendment came out, in an attempt to get around the current restrictions, so, it may be that this is no longer necessary if things keep moving in a positive direction).
Despite some of these remaining roadblocks (pun intended!) tiny house advocates said they are happy with these changes. It seems that any progress is good news at this point.
What’s next for Tiny Houses?
Since uniform safety guidelines are not yet established for tiny homes, zoning and building codes remain as the largest obstacle facing potential Tiny Home owners. Supporters of the tiny house movement are trying to change that by getting new guidelines written into the IRC guidelines which will be hopefully be accepted soon.
In the meantime, Nashua Builders is here and always ready to build modular buildings, whether it be modular hotels, modular medical clinics, modular healthcare buildings, modular offices—you name it! Nashua Builders is your prefab and modular expert.
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