Trezevant Board Considers, Delays Tiny House Regulations

TREZEVANT (July 8) — A public hearing was held prior to Tuesday's regular monthly meeting of the Trezevant Board to discuss a proposed ordinance regulating tiny houses in the town. After much discussion between town officials and citizens, the ordinance was tabled to explore increasing clarity in the language of the regulations.

The ordinance was drafted by the Planning Commission with assistance from planners from the Northwest Tennessee Development District.

David Bryant, chairman of the Planning Commission, told The Banner in a follow-up that several changes needed to be made to the ordinance before aldermen take action on it next month.

The planners intend for the ordinance to allow for tiny houses that are at least 900 square feet. The structure must be built on a land parcel of at least 15,000 square feet. The language of the ordinance as presented Tuesday was not clear on the structure minimum of 900 and mistakenly listed the lot minimum as 5,000.

The structure itself must meet certain requirements. Tiny houses must have the same general appearance as required for site-built homes and be installed on a permanent foundation system.

The home must be covered with an exterior material customarily used on conventional dwellings.

Hitches and towing apparatus, axles and wheels must be removed.

The roof must be pitched so there is at least a two-inch vertical rise for each 12 inches of horizontal run and must consist of material customarily used for conventional dwellings.

Tiny houses must connect to a public utility system which includes gas, electric, water and sewer.

The homes may not exceed one story in height. Sleeping lofts are allowed.

Several citizens participated in the discussion with questions and comments.

One inquired why homes couldn't be smaller than 900 square feet. Bryant said that the figure was based on regulations in other towns in the area.

Citizens and aldermen alike were concerned about potential clusters of tightly-packed tiny homes. (At the time, they were assuming the lot minimum of 5,000 square feet, which would have allowed for much more density of homes than the intended 15,000.) Bryant clarified that regardless of size, a single lot can only contain one residential structure unless the lot is broken up into separate parcels.

The hearing lasted just over half an hour.