Tiny houses could pop up in Indian River County
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. – March 6, 2019 – If you watch much HGTV, you know about tiny houses. The craze could catch on here if local municipalities give the green light.
A bill introduced into the Legislature by state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, would define "tiny homes" in state law and require the state Building Commission to draft building codes for the houses, which often are smaller than 400 square feet.
The bill would address permanent tiny homes only, not ones on wheels that can be towed. The proposed law would require tiny homes be connected to utilities.
Unincorporated Indian River County, has no minimum size for homes, Community Development Director Stan Boling said. The county did away with its minimum house size in the 1980s.
But it does require living structures to contain at least kitchen, bathroom and a living area.
"From a county zoning standard, you can go as low as the Florida Building Code will allow," said Boling. "My take on it is you could do a 400-500-square-foot house in most unincorporated areas of the county."
Minimum house sizes were fairly common 30 years ago, Boling said.
The county Building Department does allow accessory dwelling units, such as mother-in-law cottages and guest houses, as long as they meet code. Some subdivisions have their own size requirements.
Fellsmere has had about a half-dozen tiny-house requests in recent years but allowing them would require a change to the city's code, Community Development Director Mark Mathes said. Currently, minimum size is 1,000 square feet, and the building must have a one-car garage.
The Fellsmere City Council agreed Feb. 21 there were several changes to the city code that could be considered, including one that would permit smaller homes. But City Manager Jason Nunemaker said while he favors creating affordable housing in Fellsmere, he didn't think that would extend to micro-size dwellings of 150 square feet.
"The way our code is written, the minimum square footage is 1000 square feet, and that's fairly large," said Nunemaker. "But it would be nice to offer something else that adds some affordability."
Most zoning in Sebastian has minimum home sizes, with 1,200 square feet, plus at least a one-car garage, the smallest.
Dorri Bosworth, Sebastian Community Development Manager/Planner, said she has had a few calls from developers and Realtors regarding tiny-home projects and has suggested they consider creating a planned unit development, which has no minimum size.
"In order to avoid having a list of variances needed to get around minimum lot sizes, living areas, setbacks, etc., we have suggested rezoning to a PUD where those items can be negotiated," said Bosworth. "Sebastian Community Development would be very supportive of a 'tiny home' village or subdivision."
However, none of the inquiries has turned into a formal application, Bosworth said.
With the tiny-house industry looking to take off in Florida, legislators such as Eskamani think miniature dwellings could be attractive to millennials and seniors wanting to own their own homes without significant costs.
If Eskamani's bill becomes law, it could go into effect as soon as July 1.
Copyright © 2019 Journal Media Group, Indian River Press Journal, Janet Begley