Let’s build tiny houses
Councilmember Kipukai Kuali’i and Luke Evslin are introducing Proposed Draft Bill No. 2761 to simplify the construction of tiny houses in all zoning districts. While there is currently no prohibition on building small footprint houses, in practice there are a number of regulations in our current building code that make their construction difficult. For the first time ever, the 2018 International Residential Code (IRC) includes an appendix drafted specifically to define a tiny house and to loosen up most of the building code issues that prevent their construction. Appendix Q legalizes lofts, lowers the minimum ceiling height to accommodate them, creates egress requirements specifically for lofts, and allows for stairs and ladders that can fit in small spaces. Proposed Draft Bill No. 2761 would adopt Appendix Q from the 2018 IRC into the Kaua’i County Code, but it amends the square footage maximum for a tiny house from 400 square feet to 500 square feet. Because Appendix Q repeatedly references other sections from the 2018 IRC, and the County of Kaua’i has not yet adopted the 2018 IRC, the proposed Draft Bill also includes those references written out in their entirety.
The proposed draft bill does not make any changes to the zoning code. So, a tiny house would still need to be permitted as either the main dwelling, an ADU, an ARU, or a guest house. And, all tiny houses still need to comply with all applicable state laws regarding waste water. Lastly, Appendix Q does not apply to movable units such as trailers or RVs.
There are four main reasons that it’s important allow tiny houses to be built:
1) They are cheap to build. Our General Plan outlines the need for 9,000 new homes by 2035 and tiny houses can be a cheap source of housing for single people and small families.
2) Tiny house communities have been built as public homeless shelters in other municipalities.
3) The Kaua’i County Council recently passed a bill allowing for kitchens in guest houses (defined as units under 500 sq. ft.) and allowing guest houses to be built on all lots. We should be doing all that we can to make it easier to build and live in those units.
4) The Kaua’i County Council recently passed a bill allowing for increased lot coverage on residential lots, so many properties now have a small amount of buildable land that could only fit a tiny house.