County loosens rules on tiny houses and trailers
Sonoma County has made adding a trailer or tiny home to your rural property easier than ever, but adhering to the rules is still challenging
If you live outside the city limits of Sebastopol in an unincorporated area of west county, a new ordinance recently passed by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors may allow you to add a tiny home or trailer to your property—subject to certain rules.
The goal of this ordinance is to increase the amount of affordable housing in the county and to stop the unfortunate county-mandated evictions of people living in tiny homes and trailers.
Temporary permits, limited circumstances
The new ordinance, which the Board of Supervisors passed unanimously on March 14, would allow for the temporary residential use of a trailer or tiny home for a term of one year, under the following limited circumstances:
During the construction of a single-family dwelling
Prior to or during the construction of an accessory dwelling unit (ADU)
As a caretaker unit (either for the caretaker or the person being taken care of.)
The one-year permits are considered “temporary” to avoid triggering a CEQA review, but they are renewable.
Waste not, want not
In addition, the new ordinance allows for a “hold and haul” contract for dealing with waste in lieu of a connection to an existing sewer or septic system. (Previously all housing had to be hooked up to a sewer or septic system—an expensive endeavor.) The owner must be able to prove to the county that they have a 12-month contract with a waste hauler as a part of getting the permit.
Thanks to a change to the building code passed in December, the county also allows the use of composting toilets. Under the new ordinance, the resulting compost would have to be disposed of as a part of the “hold and haul” waste contract.
What about the city of Sebastopol?
Over the past few years, there has been a rash of legislation at both the county and state level aimed at increasing the amount of affordable housing.
Sebastopol Planning Director Kari Svanstrom said the city of Sebastopol's planning and building departments are working hard—with limited staff—to keep up with these changes. Over the next several months, the city of Sebastopol will examine how and whether to make it easier to add tiny homes or trailers to properties within the town boundaries.
Learn more
See information on this topic from the March 14 meeting of the Board of Supervisors here.
Read “Grassroots Legal Guide for Low Impact Tiny Homes & Trailers” in the Sonoma Independent.