The Warren County planning and zoning board continues to grapple with what standards to apply to the creation of so-called “tiny home” districts, areas that would allow significantly smaller-than-usual residential structures.

The term “tiny home” typically refers to houses that are smaller than 600 square feet. Proposed rules being considered by the planning and zoning board would allow for construction of the homes in specially designated districts.

Board members spent more than an hour last week debating key portions of the proposed rules, including the allowable housing density within the zones and mandatory community facilities.

Debate on the topic during an Aug. 18 public hearing began with housing advocate Jane Kelley, the founder of the Warren County Fragile and Homeless program. Kelley is one of several advocates pushing the planning board to loosen or do away with a proposed requirement for tiny home zones to contain 1 acre of land per house.

Kelley told board members that the county should take a hands-off approach to overall housing density as well as setback requirements, trusting that builders will create communities that are appealing for would-be buyers of tiny homes. We don’t need 15 acres of land for 15 tiny homes, Kelly said.

“You’re not trying to make a subdivision, you’re trying to make a new kind of community that has efficiency, low cost, and low crime if it’s done correctly,” Kelley said. “I would like it to be driven by the market. Let the developer see what fits a certain piece of land so that it’s profitable.”

If county restrictions make it hard to turn a profit on tiny homes, developers won’t build them, Kelley said.

Planning board members balked at the idea of having no density restrictions at all, but said they’re open to districts having up to three homes per acre. That led into a lengthy contention about how closely clustered homes could be within a zone. For example, could a development have six homes on one acre, and then have roads and community facilities on another acre?

Board members did not reach a conclusion on this issue, instead saying they want to review plot maps for existing tiny home communities in other regions.

Mandatory community center

Kelley also pushed board members to add a mandate for every tiny home district to have a community center. A recent Missouri seminar on tiny home developments indicated that having a central facility creates the type of community where residents care about their neighborhood and are invested in preventing any sort of negative activity or crime, Kelley said.

“The secret sauce is the community center. ... (The seminar) had statistics that showed that center is what made it have low crime,” Kelley commented. She said shared community facilities could include laundry, gathering room, garden, or outdoor recreation areas.

Although the planning board was generally willing to consider the community center mandate, board member Jeff Stassi objected that such a mandate could contradict one of the main attractions of tiny homes, which is that they are very affordable.

“How is this going to be affordable when you’re spending $600,000 for a community center, paving, septic, parks, swimming pools? All the sudden you’ve got a $60,000 house, but a $1,000-per-month homeowners association,” Stassi said.

Kelley replied that tiny home developments have received subsidies from various grant organizations to build community facilities without passing on so much cost to residents.

With these issues and several smaller questions unresolved, the planning board delayed any vote on the rules for tiny home districts until their public meeting Sept. 15. If and when the proposal gets a positive vote, it would go to the Warren County Commission for another public hearing and final approval.