A new form of temporary housing could soon roll into Sacramento: “cottages on wheels.”
A cottage on wheels resembles a small house perched atop a trailer and must be connected with city utilities. City officials hope to introduce an ordinance allowing such structures and approve it by the end of this year.
“I think those are exciting innovation projects to explore,” said Councilmember Eric Guerra during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The addition of the nonstatic dwellings would add to the types of housing that could be employed by city officials for homeless housing.
Hundreds of stationary tiny homes — 70-square-feet structures — fill a lot on Roseville Road with shared bathrooms, services and electricity.
Tiny homes are planned for three planned micro-communities for seniors, but the first site in North Natomas has drawn opposition. A safe parking lot in the River District, scheduled to open next month, will add 100 tents pitched under curved metal sheets secured by storage containers on either side.
A rendering shows how shipping containers will be used to provide shelter over tents in the River District’s safe camping site. City of Sacramento
A cottage on wheels is a type of tiny home, according to a staff report. But the city’s policy guiding such temporary structures is up for discussion.
The housing type is different from a RV, a parked trailer or an accessory dwelling unit, according to a staff report, and not defined in the city’s planning and development code.
The current proposal for the city of Sacramento would allow the nonstatic dwellings on land zoned for single-unit and duplex dwellings.
The rolling cottages can range from 150- to 400-square-feet in size and be designed akin to house, and incorporating “commonly used materials” found in a neighborhood. The dwellings must also be connected to electric, water and sewer services. The units must be towable, but not designed to move frequently, according to a staff report.
Fair goers line up to see a tiny home on wheels displayed at the California State Fair in 2018. Unconventional home builders believe their product could provide an alternative to rising California home prices. DANIEL KIM Sacramento Bee file
Other jurisdictions have adopted similar ordinances, including the cities of West Sacramento and San Diego, and Placer and Nevada counties. West Sacramento last year approved tiny homes on wheels for areas zoned for agricultural, single-unit dwellings, town houses, condominiums and certain apartment buildings. The temporary housing is limited to one story, according to the ordinance.
Sacramento’s first discussion of a cottage on wheels ordinance is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday during the Planning and Design Commission meeting. Zoning details, the number of wheeled cottages allowed on a lot and other considerations will be reviewed during the meeting.
The law must be reviewed by the Planning and Design Commission and the Law and Legislation Committee before coming to the council for a vote.
Marcus Stoltzfus talks in 2019 about tiny homes on wheels built at Liberation Tiny Homes in Leola, Penn. DON EMMERT AFP via Getty Images
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Ishani Desai is a government watchdog reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She previously covered crime and courts for The Bakersfield Californian.