The Warren County Commission heard a new round of statements on the subject of so-called “tiny homes” last week, but gave little indication of their own thoughts on the matter.

The commission is considering a proposed set of regulations to allow the establishment of “tiny home districts,” concentrated areas specifically designated for houses with a footprint of a few hundred square feet. Advocates for allowing tiny home districts say they would offer a new option for people who are looking for homes that are affordable, low-maintenance, and/or minimalist. 

Warren County’s zoning code doesn’t currently have an allowance for neighborhoods designed around such small homes, which could potentially be built in high-density clusters.

Commissioners Joe Gildehaus and Matt Flake gave little away during a Dec. 1 hearing as they listened to several comments asking them to revise certain parts of the regulations. Southern District Commissioner Tom Meyer was absent.

Community members in favor of tiny homes have been critical of some parts of the rules that they say will make tiny homes infeasible as an option for low-cost housing. In particular, they’ve pushed back on a rule that would require the size of every tiny home district to be 15 acres minimum.

For the first time, the county also received comments from a resident who is opposed to allowing any tiny homes at all.

Gildehaus and Flake mostly listened to the public comments, without offering much discussion in reply. The two commissioners didn’t indicate any opposition to allowing tiny home districts, but also didn’t signal whether they might consider any revisions to the proposal.

Presiding Commissioner Gildehaus said the commissioners will require several weeks to review the proposal and the lengthy testimonies that were previously submitted to the county’s planning and zoning board, prior to making a final ruling.

“I don’t think an answer is going to be coming in the next couple weeks. I’m sure it’s going to be after the first of the year,” Gildehaus said.

Final debate

A small group of advocates for tiny homes who spoke on Dec. 1 offered subdued objections to the proposed minimum acreage requirement.

“After a developer takes care of his requirements for sewer and water, that should be the deciding factor on the amount of land. ... Most developers will look at (15 acres) and say there’s not a lot of profit on tiny homes,” said Jane Kelly, an advocate for the homeless who has spoken on four previous occasions about tiny homes. “This could be a huge piece of the answer to our housing crisis, if it’s done right. If we do it wrong ... we won’t get any developers.”

County resident Donna Reed, who lives in a tiny home situated in an RV park, said the commission should keep in mind how regulations, such as minimum acreage and density restrictions, will affect the cost of homes.

“If you make it where the rent has to be high, it’s not going to turn out the way you want it to,” Reed said.

County Planning and Zoning Administrator Bill Roehmer, meanwhile, pushed commissioners in the other direction, stating that the county needs to allow adequate room for all the land use required in the district, including 50-foot setbacks around the district boundary, roads, community center, and septic fields.

Roehmer said that his assumption, in recommending a 15 acre minimum, is that the tiny home communities won’t have access to larger, centralized sewer networks such as the ones in Warrenton or Wright City.

But Hope Fick, another advocate for tiny homes, asked why that assumption needs to be built into the county’s law.

“If the developer can lay (the property) out and show the sewer, the water, the roads, I don’t see why you would have a minimum acreage requirement for a community. I don’t think that’s a requirement for other developments that go in, as long as it lays out well and all of the sanitation needs are met. I don’t think any other developer has to say ‘We have to use up these 10 (extra) acres,’” Fick commented.

The county also got its first objection against tiny homes in five months of proceedings. Resident Jerry Roseman told the commission he thinks tiny home communities will become a blight.

“They’ll have nowhere to store anything inside their house because it’s so small. And if it’s outside storage, that turns it into an eyesore. ... That will affect the property value in all the surrounding communities,” Roseman said. “We need to spur positive growth that’s going to appreciate property values around here, rather than pull the property values down.”