Small Homes 500 Square Feet Or Less
City of Evanston, Illinois approves the adoption of Ordinance 13-0-21 by the city council and planning commission A Zoning Text Amendment to Permit the Establishment and Regulation of Efficiency Homes on March 22nd, 2021. This establishes a definition for Efficiency Homes (Section 6–18–3) and establishes regulations for their construction and use within rresidential districts.
What Is An Efficiency Home?
An ”Efficiency Home” is a small residential building with a ground floor area of 500 square feet or less, containing not more than one dwelling unit entirely surrounded by open space on the same lot and permanently affixed to a foundation. A mobile home or recreational vehicle shall not be considered an efficiency home.”
A Big Effort Behind City’s First ‘Tiny Home’ Ordinance
Andrew Gallimore already knew a little about “tiny houses,” before he found a lot in Evanston where he might like to build one two years ago.
To be sure, some of his information came from watching TV shows which have gotten “a little ridiculous” on the subject, he said.
In those portrayals, “they’re tiny houses on wheels, and they’ve got eight kids and a dog and, you know …” Mr. Gallimore said.
His interest was a bit more practical. He envisioned building a tiny home on a small lot to provide an independent living opportunity for his older brother, who has special needs. “A tiny home would be an ideal solution for my family,” Mr. Gallimore told a Zoning Committee looking into the issue.
Mr. Gallimore bought the 16.5 foot wide, 2,450-square-foot property at 1918 Noyes St., for $20,000 from a seller who had purchased it in a tax sale the previous year.
Just to be sure, Mr. Gallimore, who has a real estate license, checked in with the City about his plans.
The initial response he got back was not encouraging.
“There are a couple of thing that make it unbuildable,” it started off.
With staff working with him, Mr. Gallimore spent the last two years reversing that view.
Evanston City Council members rewarded that effort last month, approving a text amendment to the City’s zoning code permitting the establishment of what are referred to as “Efficiency Homes.”
Before Mr. Gallimore brought the issue to them, City staff had fielded a variety of inquiries in recent years regarding tiny homes “that could be permanently located on small or odd-shaped lots that are otherwise challenging to build on,” pointed out Meagan Jones, the City’s Neighborhood and Land Use Planner, in a memo to the City Council.
In 2020, Mr. Gallimore applied for a zoning text amendment in order to establish a definition and regulations for this type of residence, she noted.
Along with his application, Mr. Gallimore, provided a map, which showed the locations of irregular lots that could be built on, Ms. Jones said.
“The information used is based on Cook County Assessor data for vacant lots, which the applicant then cross-referenced with available City data on parcel sizes and current uses,” Ms. Jones said of the methodology used. For the purposes of the list, the lot size was limited to 3,300 square feet and smaller with the average lot size being 2,887 square feet. This resulted in 35 [eligible] properties, dispersed throughout Evanston,” she said.
Source: A Big Effort Behind City’s First ‘Tiny Home’ Ordinance
I love the creativity of your language change and the opportunities it offers. We all know our tiny homes are about “efficiency,” but renaming them for governmental acceptance is genius. One thing I wonder: would removing the wheels from a THOW and affixing to a permanent foundation qualify under Illinois’ new rules? Thank you for your hard work in generating this necessary change!