In order to address density and growing need for housing City Councilmen Mike O’Brien has released a proposal for legislation that would change the municipal code to allow more flexibility for building small detached dwelling units.
After hearing feedback from the community about current regulations Councilmember O’Brien says that there are “significant burdens on homeowners” when deciding to build backyard cottages or mother-in-law units.”
According to his office, as of December 2015, 221 backyard cottages have been built or permitted in Seattle since 2009; however, there are approximately 75,000 single-family lots that are eligible to build.
O’Brien believes that backyard cottages, or Detached Accessory Dwelling Units (DADUs,) have the potential to provide a significant amount of affordable housing. His office claims that if just five percent of eligible lots in Seattle build DADUs it would generate close to 4,000 housing units.
According to the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection, an accessory dwelling unit or detached accessory dwelling unit (sometimes called a mother-in-law apartment) is a separate living space within a house or on the same property as an existing house. A legally permitted unit in the home is called an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). Tiny houses, with foundations, are considered DADUs.
O’Brien’s changes to the code includes (information taken from O’Brien’s website):
• Allowing backyard cottage and mother-in-law unit on the same property
• Increasing the height limit for backyard cottages by 1-2 feet. Setback requirements from property edges would not change.
• Removing the requirement for owners to include an off-street parking space for backyard cottages or mother-in-law units
• If a backyard cottage is only one-story, its floor area may cover up to 60% of the rear yard (currently 40%), creating a large enough livable space for those unable to use stairs. Existing setback requirements from the lot edge would not change.
• Requiring that the property owner live on-site for at least one year after a backyard cottage or mother-in-law unit is created, rather than the current requirement that the owner live on-site at least 6 months out of every year in perpetuity.
• Allowing backyard cottages on lots 3,200 square feet or greater (currently 4,000 square feet), which would make approximately 7,300 additional parcels eligible to provide this additional housing option.
• Increasing the maximum gross floor area of a backyard cottage to 1,000 square feet (currently 800 square feet),
"With these amendments to the existing code, we could see thousands of new housing units that simultaneously fit into the context of a neighborhood and serve property owners," said Councilmember O'Brien. "By expanding the availability of backyard cottages and mother-in-laws, someone might be able move to a neighborhood they otherwise couldn't afford while helping a homeowner who needs an extra source of income to afford to stay where they are. It's a win-win."
The news has some tiny housing advocates excited; however, the issue around the building these structures on wheels still remains. The legislation would open the door to new creative detached structures, especially the emerging tiny house trend, however, these structures must satisfy the Seattle building code, which includes having a foundation.
“Tiny houses on wheels are treated like camper trailers. You cannot live in a tiny house on wheels (or similar equipment such as RVs and boats) in Seattle city limits. If your tiny house has wheels you need to follow parking rules for large vehicles,” states the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections.
According to Mike O’Brien’s office, the proposal aims to keep basic building codes intact, including what constitutes a structure with a foundation. Furthermore based on the feedback they gathered in order to make the proposal, there wasn’t a strong push from residents for houses on wheels.
“It’s not like people specifically asked for ‘tiny homes.’ It was really more people who want more options to create housing and extra income, and hopefully this legislation would allow them to do that,” said a spokesperson from O’Brien’s office.
Hannah Crab Tree, 27, is a tiny house owner and designer in West Seattle. She is also the founder of PocketMansion.com, which hosts a meet up group for tiny house owners, enthusiasts and activists.
About O’Brien’s proposal, she said it’s “Certainly breaking down the barriers to having small homes” and that it “will hopefully lead to more people building small homes.”
She went on to cite a recent Seattle Times article that states the average size of a DADU is 632 square feet.
“I design tiny spaces. I don’t have much interest in designing a house over 225 square feet. So it probably won’t affect me too much.”
Currently, DADUs are limited to 1,000 square feet and backyard cottages are limited to 800 square feet (where coverage of lot allows and zone).
According to the SDCI there is a no minimum square footage for these dwellings.
“The Residential Code requires one room of at least 120 square feet. Additional habitable rooms, except for kitchens, are required to be at least 70 square feet,” wrote Wendy Shark of the SDCI. “Other than that requirement, there is no minimum size. Theoretically, a DADU could be as small as 120 square feet (interior dimensions) plus the area of a bathroom and kitchen.”
But what about tiny houses on wheels?
“Tiny Houses on wheels and RVs are considered a vehicle and licensed through the state (DOL and L&I). We don’t apply building codes to vehicles because we require permanent connections to a structural foundation and utilities.”
For some tiny house advocate the problem lies here. Naomi Rivkis, a tiny home enthusiast, wrote to the BNT:
“The biggest problem with tiny houses is that it's very hard to find legal places to park them right now. They kind of fall through the cracks between different types of regulation, and so they don't fit in either as a permanent home or as an RV. So there are few opportunities to live in them fully and unequivocally within the law.”
Crabtree related the issue to homelessness.
“Tiny houses are not a solution to homelessness, but they are a preventative method for homelessness. Tiny houses should be allowed for exactly this reason, but when the city comes in with their expensive permits and rules and regulations it makes tiny houses on wheels not affordable. Which is why tiny houses are on wheels. It's a safer life to have your own tiny house and live in it illegally than to be living paycheck to paycheck to afford shelter,” said Crabtree.
She also mentioned that a potential solution for tiny houses on wheels would be for the city to allow an “easy and cheap way to install hook ups in backyards and have us pay a small, reasonable permit or land use fee.”
“It's not going to stop happening and been it's happening forever. People are going to shelter themselves. If the city wants to get people off the street than they should take a long hard look at what got them there. For many people it is very simple that they could not afford their rent. They shouldn't be subjected to life on the street for that.”
With no minimum requirement for DADUs, if O’Brien’s proposal it voted in favor in July, homeowners and people with the means to do so will have more room in the code to create their own version of tiny houses -- as long as they’re not on wheels.
