San Diego, California’s second-largest city, has unanimously approved moveable tiny houses as ADUs. This ordinance was modeled after LA and San Jose city ordinances. San Luis, Obispo, and many other cities have now legalized the tiny home on wheels. It’s a win-win for the tiny home advocates as it makes it easier for the tiny home dwellers to park the tiny home structures in their region. TinyHouseMe is one of the most trusted online directories offering you the opportunity to connect with multiple builders offering top-notch tiny home kits for sale, ADUs, cabins, casitas, tiny homes on wheels, houses on foundation, and structures of a similar kind.
A revolutionary change
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has taken steps to help renters and home buyers deal with the housing crisis. They have adopted 22 promising actions (as per data) and made amendments to help deliver different housing structures easier and faster. The Board has encouraged innovation and technology and at the same time reduced and guaranteed review times for permits and housing plans. The builders will also get financial incentives and extra customer support. The Board is funding $14.5M to carry out all these plans.
These promising actions will help tiny home builders save valuable time and provide more certainty in the manufacturing process. With the involvement of technology, even tiny home buyers can now track the project, get more transparency, and have increased communication with the builders during the development process. With technology, the tiny home buyer will get more support, be more educated about the tiny home project and get much-needed guidance from the builders throughout the manufacturing process.
The County ensures that there will be additional professionals who make sure the applications are correct and completed during submissions to save time. The projects that need septic tank approval will now have dedicated professional assistance for conducting all types of septic reviews more efficiently. The County will offer pre-approved home plans for single-family tiny homes and accept tiny houses on wheels as an approved solution to housing.
These recommendations were generated by the County’s multi-department working group, and then it was designed with the stakeholder’s inputs. The working group includes Public Works, County Counsel, Planning and Development Services, Environment Health and Quality, County Fire, Purchasing and Contracting, General Services, Housing and Community Development Services, and the Office of Economic Development and Government Affairs.
A great solution for the region’s ongoing housing affordability crisis
The County’s approval of tiny home on wheels is a great response to the ongoing housing affordability crisis. However, efforts are still underway to create a roadmap or Housing Blueprint. The County is creating the roadmap and helping to guide the ongoing response concerning the housing affordability crisis. The blueprint has the entire layout of the objectives, goals, and strategies of the County for maximizing the balance of priorities and resources and ensuring the future steps taken to meet San Diego’s housing requirements are in alignment with the core values of excellence, integrity, belonging, sustainability, access, and equity. The most vital is the Community Input, as it helps address the County’s efforts to tackle the crisis. Therefore, leaving a comment on the website might help if you have any input. You can review the Housing Blueprint and offer your recommendations, and the goals and objectives will be presented to the Board of Supervisors.
As a recognition of all the efforts to date, the state has given the County Prohousing Designation. This is awarded to the counties and cities for implementation of land use and zoning policies that will favor development and accelerate the time frame of housing production while reducing the production and housing costs and offering financial subsidies.
To make things easier, we have broken down the details of the ordinances and these are similar to other California cities.
- The tiny home on wheels must be registered and licensed with the California DMV. Many builders can handle all the registration and paperwork of the customized trailers. Connect with such builders via TinyHouseMe now to get started.
- The tiny home on wheels should not be larger than what’s allowed on public highways. This means the tiny home on trailers needs to be constructed per California codes. For more details on this, you can either book an appointment with a Californian tiny home builder or sign up to get helpful advice for your tiny home planning.
- Keep in mind that skoolies are not considered tiny houses, and the tiny home on wheels, although movable, cannot be mobilized under its own power.
- The tiny home on wheels cannot have a separate address and must be located not in the front yard but behind the primary house.
- When you park the tiny home, the wheels, undercarriage, and tongue should be concealed from view, and there shouldn’t be any mechanical equipment on the roof.
- The tiny home on wheels should be connected to sewer, water, and electricity, and as no natural gas is allowed, propane is good to go!
- If you want a DIY build tiny home on wheels, they must still be RV-certified and park model certified.
- If the main building of your house has a fire sprinkler, then the tiny house must have the same, especially if the place is prone to fire accidents.
Design Elements of a tiny home on wheels:
- The materials used on the exterior should not be of a single-piece composite, interlocking metal sheathing, or laminate.
- The windows should have double-pane glass and not be rounded like on RV or park models.
- The windows should be labeled for building use.
- The roof should have a slope for draining over the roof edge. At least 50% needs to be a 2:12 pitch.
- There should be no slides, tip outs or articulation in any rooms.
Final Words
The ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) ordinance approval gives permits to tiny homes on wheels as a permissible and permanent habitual ADU unit. The THIA (Tiny Home Industry Association) has spent months guiding this ordinance, and now we are all happy with the city’s approval.
However, if you are planning to purchase tiny house kits for sale, then it’s better to research, compare and choose – before deciding on a good builder. At TinyHouseMe, we help you find over 100 tiny home builders across the U.S. and Canada. Sign up now for a quick response from your chosen builder.
