questions

what was your process, which land trust did you work with? there was something hard that happened? what?

you built your house, what was your process?

do you know anyone who did home making with very small budget?

is there land available here? i think that is all....

im mapping out the process of finding/ buying land and then permits and zoning and temp shelter...im trying to get clear on what the cost is. im trying to cobble my life together, craft my life so i can see choices for how much to work for pay.

usda, monday feb 22

bunch of stuff: i sent in the early application to usda saying my gross salary is 23, 700 which is what i get pre tax right now on unemployment.

lots of good info from kathrin bateman abut home life work. have that in my notebook for now.

and today i meet with karen idoine. i'll work on my questions soon.

i spoke with marcia about how overwhelming this can feel, she suggested asking for help. i need help with this. it is a radical thing to do. i so prefer this to the academic paper. i understand more about what this is about for me after going through the bernie thing/ mediation.

yoshi wants to be in a support group together.

ah, how am i taking responsibility for patriarchy?

i want to write a letter to carol gilligan.

and i went on a date and met a nice fella! i CAN like someone. i wasnt sure. i wanna get my life in order.

also betsy c will talk t us about land trusts, so i'll learn about that.

kits for straw bale, etc? middle ground

what exists as a middle ground between entirely made walls, etc and cut wood you use for straw bale or post and beam...

lets tour the web-o!

tangent, but i found this cool thing -if you host this guy, he brings the course to your site so people learn by doing, you provide food, etc. very cool.

post and beam: http://www.vermontframes.com/d_dutch.php dutch saltbox

or bistol dutch saltbox. if they install it with panels (walls?) it is $35, 244. might not include roof?

from find prefab.com

• Manufactured home. A manufactured home is one built in a protected environment, such as a factory, following federal standards, and then taken to its site. Laws governing the building of manufactured homes were put into effect by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1976, in order to ensure higher grade housing.
• Mobile home. This is the term now given to all manufactured homes made before the federal rules were enacted in 1976. Because there were no regulations, often these homes were constructed with shoddy materials and techniques.
• Modular home. This is a type of manufactured home in which the individual modules are constructed at the factory and then trucked to the home site to be assembled. These homes are regulated by state law, and because of this cannot be moved from state to state.
• Panelized home. A home built in panels, such as a wall with windows and doors already inserted, and then assembled on site. Panelized homes are also regulated by the state.
• Pre-cut homes. Similar to panelized homes, pre-cut homes are also assembled on site.
  

enough for now, i guess.

thursday where am i at?

It's a gorgeous spring like day. I got my period last night, so i think that affected my mood around this. the weather too bursts energy into me.

A freewrite:

oh, hello mt toby! i watched ten minutes of ann armbrecht's numen movie, and it reminds me to slow down, connect. i keep saying: the common problem (regarding bernie, zen peacemakers) is disconnection. and here, i am trying to connect to shelter. connect to time, livelihood, creating, community, shelter, rules around shelter, the way we are urged to do things a certain way (mortgage, work this much, etc.)

and i just wanted it all done. dudette, you gonna be patient if this happens! its just a different kind of work, but work nonetheless. hopefully with some freed up stuff later.

being an adult.

i spoke with eve this morning during interview. i said mapping this out has brought up feelings, loneliness, afraid i'll be stuck in a trailer and lose momentum. she was supportive. i sid, i'll learn, bear witness to what comes up, what is the zen in this? she bears witness to me. am a woman, trying to live connected to my life.

is it the act of closing off other options? this is it. my (a) life i choose.

how do i feel now? right now, i feel i can do it. darling, of course you can do it. do you want to do it?

spencer is a resource. i have so many people who are resources.

do i want to? i want to have a cabin yes!

shelter. gimme shelter!!

the internal remodelin'

let me give space to the unspoken voices:

you will start and then not finish; you will be unhappy; you'll be content with inappropriate lazy things (mud); you will run out of money (fail); you will have this hanging over you like a dissertation; you will be unhappy; you will hurt yourself; you will be self absorbed and unable to help anyone else; you are too focused on small things; you are going to be way absorbed in this. you do not know who you will meet, etc. what if you start and never finish? is this what you want to do with your life? you will have to put all your energy into this! your life will shrivel up into a small piece of land responsibility; you'll be a stuck homebody in the middle of nowhere; maybe the way everyone else does it ISNT so bad -job, etc. are you proving a point? you'll be stuck! unhappy! depressed! this will be a mistake -cost more of your time and lifeforce than a good job would...something will go wrong! you are going in unchartered territory. this is scary. everyone else has money from family! (so do i...) you will fuck up! whatever you do it will be a mistake!

so scary it is to connect with what i want. do i just want someone to do this for me? here, karen a gift for you! a home, a straw bale home. here it is. do i want that ? can i allow that happiness?

maybe i wish my family gave me more basic needs in home, holiday, time together. ah well. i am what i am, my karma. why cant i even get a boyfriend? i feel alone they wont encourage me at all! philip will criticize me, marion will freak. gerhard will be quiet.

it is feb 17th. where could i get land??and then what would i do? id contact the building inspector.

should i take the prefab course? or design my own? if if design, what kind? post and beam? is there some middle ground -kit you can use and then make straw bale? i'll look into that.

can my parents lend me money? i would pay them back, philip too. i could pay them back! i just cant get a loan. i would definitely pay them back. maybe someone else could lend me money? i would pay them back and get a notary, etc.

i'll need money for land (25?) (could i make arrangement with owner?)
money for prefab house (25)
foundation 5
electric 2?
plumbing 3?
road?
roof
permits, etc 300
engineer 100-2k
perc 600

its still only 65k. for a small nice new house. and land!

it would be less stressful if i had 60k. maybe ben could lend me money and i'd repay him at 2 percent?

mass building codes

http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/building-codes/massachusetts/

dwelling code
structural code
plumbing code
mechanical code
electrical code
fire life safety code
energy code
accessibility code

there are also codes for municipalities and springfield may be the closest.

i do not understand if you do this local what the process is....for permits, zoning, etc. who do you contact or ask about this? not clear at all on the mass website.

*

another site: http://www.make-my-own-house.com/building-permits.html

You'll need to go and talk to the local building inspector at your county or city courthouse or planning office. He or she will help you with the necessary forms that pertain to your building site.
Every location is a little different and each has it's own special building-permits requirements. Inspectors can be very helpful in these cases. It's best to have open communication with the inspectors.

You will most likely have a building inspector, an electrical inspector, a plumbing inspector, and a health inspector. If you're getting financing from a bank, you will probably have a financial officer that will give you funding upon completion of inspections.

You will first have to take your plans to the building inspector. You can usually find the inspectors at your county courthouse or city government buildings. If you don’t find them, they’ll find you. It’s preferable to find them before they find you in most cases. Anyway, you will be charged usually a percentage of the completed value of your home. This really varies so be aware.

On average, building permits will cost around 1% the estimated value of the house. You’ll definitely want to find out the actual percentage before you take your plans in. One way to look at it is regardless of who builds the house, the owner will have to shell out hard-earned bucks to theinspector no matter what. Not many ways out around that one. You will need to pull (buy) permits from each of these inspectors. The electrical , health, and plumbing permits aren't too difficult to swallow, but the building-permits will put a huge dent into an already dented wallet. You will want to talk to your buildinginspector about the different permits.

If you're building a house in the city where water and septic are available, then you won't have to worry about soil and water samples. Us country folk have a few more things to worry about in that case. We do need to provide soil and water samples to the health inspector.

After the samples have cleared inspection, the building inspector can determine how deep the foundation needs to be to get below the frost line and the health inspector will give the requirements for a septic system.

MY QUESTION: DOES THIS HAPPEN BEFORE OR AFTER YOU BUY LAND?

Once the soil type has been determined, you can start your house plans. Some inspectors require official blueprints that you can have made for you for a few hundred dollars or even do them yourself with software and then take your plans to a print shop and have them printed with a plotter or large format printer. Other inspectors really don't care what kind of plans you have as long as they can understand them when you present them.
Most inspectors will need the following forms returned to them before you can get a building permit:

• Building permit application
• Appointment Declaration
• Agent Authorization form
• Some or all of the following building-permits and documents may be needed so the inspector can understand how you want to build your house.
  
  The copies of your building plans can be your blueprints because they show accurate drawings that are in scale. HELPFUL!

WHO IS THE MONTAGUE BUILDING INSPECTOR?

Contact Type	Contact Information
Contact:	David Jensen Inspector of Buildings Karen Casey-Chretien Clerk Richard Kuklewicz Inspector of Wire Herbert Hohengasser Plumbing & Fuel Gas Inspector

today, thursday

some info about permits, zoning, codes from the tiny house website:

1. Avoid building codes – Begin by finding communities that don’t have a lot of building restrictions. There’s a good ebook to start your search called No Building Codes written by Terry Herb at Containerist. The ebook outlines the building codes for each US State, at the state-level. If you are open to relocating and want to a quick reference by your side when seeking out states with few (if any) restrictions this is a good ebook to have.
2. ‘Camp’ on your land – Trailer-based tiny houses are usually seen by most municipalities as RV trailers since they are built on wheels. So you can typlically live in a tiny house anywhere it’s legal to ‘camp’ on your own land. This is not always permitted so check the local ordinances with local law enforcement and/or the planning department. Other issues may still apply like how you’ll need to deal with waste water and drinking water.
3. Alternate zoning – Look for multi-family zoned land. Typically there is no minimum unit size defined for multi-family zoned property which allows apartment building to have small apartments. It’s possible that with the right proposal, a planning department may approve building the first unit of a multi-unit tiny house development.
4. Trailer park – Rent space at a trailer park. Some trailer parks have restrictive requirements like many homeowners’ associations, so avoid those. But many will be happy to have you park your custom trailer home in along side the other trailers.
5. Build an eco-village – Consider buying an existing trailer park or campground with friends and turn it into an eco-village. This is one of my favorite tiny house community concepts because the zoning and infrastructure are already in place at these kinds of properties; although I’ve yet to see someone give it a try.
6. Move out to the countryside – Many rural areas, even near major metropolitan areas will be more flexible with living solutions. There are many areas where migrant housing has already set precedents and paved the way for tiny house living.
7. Backyard camping – A friends backyard might be a viable option if ‘camping’ is be allowed in your area. Setting up a tiny home in a backyard may also legally comply with the laws that support ADUs (accessory dwelling units). Even here in regulation-ridden California we have laws that permit the addition of in-law units.
8. Hide in plain sight – I’m not advocating breaking the law but many people have found that simply setting up housekeeping in plain view works fine. The reason this works is that something so cute and in plain view is seen as a quality contribution to the neighborhood, not an eyesore. Onlookers seem to assume it’s some kind of cute shed, playhouse, or home office and just smile and continue on their way. Few would assume someone actually lives there, after all, who could live in a house so small? LOL
9. Seek a variance – This is essentially asking the local planning department to consider an exception to the rule. If you work the green angle and diversity angle you may get more traction. There is quite a bit of risk with this approach because you have to buy the land before you can apply for building permits.

“because you have to buy the land before you apply for building permits”

Whao, I’m pretty sure that is not the case everywhere. If you work with the seller they can give you permission to apply for the zoning amendment ahead of time. Also, while I am one of the ones that posted the variance thing as a suggestion, I later found out that where I live, in order to put a non-wheeled (so either with foundation or prefab but just resting on the surface style) tinyhouse, you need a zoning amendment.

These are usually temporary, apparently and can be for a year to 10 years before you have to reapply or renew it in some way. Unfortunately they are apparently not a very satisfactory solution because the municipality has no obligation to fork it over and they seem to be very anal about it.

Reading the minutes of your local council meeting can give you some idea of what you’re going up against. As far as I could tell from the minutes I read, it was a stretch to get a stand alone temporary (no foundation) accessory dwelling unit approved even in a wooded rural area for you own parents, the bastards even demanded that the property owner sign a contract for various useage conditions for the unit e.g. has to be continously used and only by the owners parents.

It’s not like this everywhere, though, apparently seattle and vancouver permit by default the construction of certain tinyhouse like things search “vancouver laneway housing” and “seattle cottage housing”, so maybe we can extend that to other cities.

Oh boy Michael, I think this is a big can of worms. Pardon, in advance, the long post that I feel is coming. I am familiar with Oregon Building Codes (based off of IRC) and many of the greater Portland area municipalities’ zoning codes. I write from this perspective.

States that have building codes truly are protecting folks. The code and inspections ensures that the house is being built safely. Moreover, room size minimums are to be sure that unscrupulous builders do not create 1000sf 5 bedroom (3 of which are 6′x5′ without a closet) homes akin to tenement housing. This is accountability and guides consumer expectations. I do realize that consumers have been conditioned to expect a small bedroom to be 10′x11′ and the previous example would probably not sell.

The codes also are in place to protect firefighters in rescue situations. I recently was privileged to listen in to the Oregon State Code Board and their revisions to our next code update. Most of their structural concerns were with firefighter safety. A floor over a basement collapsed last year due to structural inadequacy, causing the death of a couple firefighters. Windows are important too. You may be able to squeeze out of a 2′x2′ opening, but if you are unconscious, you will appreciate having a 5.7sf opening that a firefighter can get into, pack and all.

Oregon has minimum room sizes (70sf) and ceiling heights (7′ +/-) but these can be ignored if you are building the house yourself (contractor’s license not required) and will be living in it for at least two years (not selling it right away). The Carver series of homes on my website plays with this notion. All three homes are less than 300sf. Two have ‘legal’ rooms and the third ignores that standard.

I don’t believe that any jurisdiction in Oregon regulates minimum house size. These restrictions are generally put in place by upper scale housing developments with HOAs. You probably don’t want to live there anyways. Accessory structures are allowed without a permit in most zoned areas if they are 120sf and less. Oregon has increased this maximum to 200sf.

Camping on your land near municipalities is generally allowed but carries a rule of no more than 30 days in any 6 month period and cannot be closer than 3 miles to an established city (Clackamas County, some rural zones). I understand the idea is to keep transients from mucking up areas. Oregon apparently does not like it’s transients.

Your idea regarding multi-family is a great idea. Some of the zones around Portland allow for separated structures, but some require attached units. City of Portland has a minimum amount of units to be built on a piece of land. For instance, a 100′x100′ parcel in R-2 zoning requires a minimum of 4 units. They must all be built at the same time or within a couple years of each other.

Variances can be sought around here, but require several things. The first is that you must get approval from a percentage of neighboring properties within a certain radius. The second is that you must prove a hardship in order to apply for the variance. Most of the time, the use must not preclude the base zone use. For instance, trying to get a house built in an EFU (exclusive farm use) zone has several restrictions. The land is considered high quality and reserved for crops.

Setting up as an ADU is generally encouraged by the City of Portland and most other jurisdictions. Portland has even reduced their fees to create an ADU. Clackamas County will only allow one kitchen on a piece of property.

I like the idea of hiding in plain sight. I was recently looking at a piece of land that was 30′x1300′. This was a county owned property that was being auctioned off at a starting bid of $1048. It was zoned for farm use only, but allowed buildings that were incidental to farm use. My thought was to use the land as my own personal garden and orchard. I would build a 198sf (avoid permits) cute (neighbor appeal) ‘processing shed’ (incidental to farm use) and use that as a tiny cabin. My family of four would spend weekends there. In the fall, we truly would use the bed platforms to process bushels of apples.

My best option for a permanent home would be to purchase one of these substandard county parcels through auction that was zoned for housing. These parcels are considered substandard because they won’t fit a 40′ wide home and are therefore sold for 4 digits as opposed to 5 or 6. Many rural properties around here want a 10′ side setback. With the previous 30′ wide property (were it zoned residential), that would allow for a 10′ wide home, plenty wide enough for me to work with (and allows for the minimum 7′ wide rooms). In fact, cantilevers are allowed that would allow some rooms to be wider than 9′ inside.

Problem is that while I would spend $1000 for the land, I would end up spending $5000 or more for a well and $10,000 for a permit. I would install a composting toilet and avoid the septic cost. I do the building myself and after all costs are considered, I’m in a permanent legal place of 600sf for around $40k. This is acceptable to me but I know that others will be wanting to do the whole package for under $10k.

My other option was to enact the camping clause, drag a 28′ trailer to the site, and build a tiny home on it. Maybe even with pallets!

I hope this helps some of your readers who live in other parts of the country to explore their local codes and see what they can pull off.

Reply

Michael Janzen says:

August 3, 2010 at 11:13 am

Thanks Brian… excellent points. It also nicely balances out my general disrespect for them. LOL

But seriously, I’m sure there are lots of good reasons for codes, permits, and process… and I know that the core idea is to protect people.

By all means everyone should build safe homes and use the international building codes when it’s required and makes sense, even when building a tiny house. I hope I didn’t imply you should not; I was trying to stay focused on avoiding red tape loopholes more than building poorly.

The catch-222 example you gave of the odd-sized lot and $10,000 permit for a water well is perfect for illustrating how a loophole can be used to provide short-term housing while ‘harvesting apples’.

As far as Oregon is concerned, it is one of those places, like California, that is a bit strongly regulated (correct me if I’m wrong).

In a nutshell it’s states like Missouri that offer the most flexibility in terms of building codes. In places like these the loopholes I’ve described here are not so needed because there is more freedom to build. In fact this is how places like the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage are possible. http://www.dancingrabbit.org/

Every jurisdiction is different so generalizations are not particularly useful however to expand a little on Brian’s thread. Keep your eyes peeled for existing non-conforming uses – they exist in almost all jurisdictions and quite often maintain non-conforming rights. This can include substandard lots, sub-standard dwelling, non-conforming uses [residential in commercial or industrial zones etc]. Certain areas have a greater percentage of these uses. The Gulf Coast post Katrina had ton of small houses built by non-profits looking to help out. Not every community is ready for sub 100 foot free standing homes, but there are plenty of permitted 400 – 800 s.f homes and multi-family zoning allows considerable more density [smaller units]

feb 16th tasks

1. read roy and work on flow chart
2. shall i drive around montague and see what's available? look at land i love?
3. how about i go to town hall by this afternoon and ask to learn about reading prop maps.
4. make appt with hadley man in a few weeks?