Would tiny homes cure big housing headaches?

Some Western towns are taking a “Little House on the Prairie” to new lengths.

To mitigate rising market costs, Kalispell City Council in Montana officially added tiny homes to its municipal code earlier this week. Back in Idaho, meanwhile, places like Moscow and Boise have various allowances for tiny home neighborhoods.

This concept has repeatedly prompted folks in Coeur d’Alene to ask whether the town should allow tiny homes.

“It would have to depend on how that code was structured,” City Council member Kiki Miller, who’s also an attainable housing volunteer, told the Coeur d’Alene Press earlier this week. “But it could be a win-win situation.”

Within the city, only MH-8 zoning comes remotely close to allowing tiny homes. This zoning, which allows for individual mobile home units at eight units per gross acre, is limited.

“For our current code, the building requirements are very prohibitive,” Miller said. “The other thing that we run into is, when these are being built, there’s different snow-load factors. It can’t be a one-size fits all.”

According to City Senior Planner Sean Holm, tiny homes are currently prohibited within Coeur d’Alene limits unless they’re completely connected to a foundation and meet minimum building code standards. Stick-built dwellings, however, are allowed if they also meet city standards.

But if it’s on wheels and plopped in your backyard, that won’t fly.

“We’ve had numerous people call and ask, ‘Can I do this in my backyard?’” Holm said. “We generally point to an ADU code.”

Holm said tiny home codes are restricted to the foundation so the tiny home “doesn’t disappear in the middle of the night.”

“Banks don’t want it to disappear,” he said. 

There are currently 279 accessory dwelling units in the city of Coeur d’Alene. Under new state laws, ADUs in Coeur d’Alene must be 800 to 1,000 square feet, or 75% of the primary dwelling.

Height limits for ADUs include 32 feet if built within the principal structure's building envelope; 18 feet for a one-story detached ADU in the rear yard; and 24 feet if built above a detached garage in the rear yard.

With this new legislation and loosened ADU regulations, Miller asks, “Why bother with other options?”

New state short-term-rental regulations are also weighing on local lawmakers. Effective July 1, Coeur d’Alene residents no longer must obtain official permits to operate a short-term rental on their property.

Housing data show that out-of-state investors own 60% to 75% of short-term rentals in Coeur d'Alene.

“None of that helps our local workers find a place to live,” Miller said. 

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Dan Gookin said tiny home developments oftentimes turn into rentals and problem areas that could spur crime. He also noted that outside corporations could take advantage of the new law.

“What’s to prevent a speculator from buying them all up and turning them into rentals?” he said.

According to Gookin, addressing housing issues goes beyond increasing inventory.

“I would prefer to focus on high paying jobs to afford the homes,” he said. “That’s a better approach.”

    Gookin