Gordon City Council places moratorium on ‘tiny homes’

A 40-year-old mobile home on 1.46 acres in Ivey currently is for sale at $180,000. Meanwhile, finding something to rent for less than $1,000 per month around Wilkinson County is extremely difficult.

Obviously, this isn’t just a Wilkinson County problem. Housing costs in Wilco are still relatively cheap compared to many parts of Georgia, especially the metro Atlanta area. Regardless, the cost of housing has led some people to become more creative, which has led to a second surge in the popularity of the “tiny home,” typically built to resemble stick-built houses, despite the fact that many are built on wheels.

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The city of Gordon more recently has fielded multiple building requests from tiny home enthusiasts. The City Council still has more questions than answers, however, leading it to enact a 180-day moratorium on tiny homes, defined by the City Council as “a single-family home of 400 square feet or less, excluding the loft.”

In theory, the City Council will take this time to “study to determine whether or not how to create standards” for tiny homes. Zoning will be the big issue. In other words, should tiny homes be allowed in the same neighborhood as “traditional homes,” and how would this impact property values? Also, what if a property owner wished to place a tiny home or “mother-in-law suite” behind their existing “traditional home?” Also, would there be any demand in Gordon for an entire tiny home subdivision, which are now beginning to pop up in different parts of Georgia? Those were a few of the questions and scenarios discussed at Monday’s meeting.

Tiny homes date back to the late 1990s, although the concept didn’t gain much traction until the Great Recession. Several television shows followed, and “tiny homes” are now a familiar concept and part of the American lexicon.