After sitting vacant for nearly a year, 25 tiny homes owned by Erie County are in the process of finding new homes and new purposes by the end of the summer.
Erie County Executive Christina Vogel inherited the tiny homes from the previous administration. However, after reviewing the project, Vogel said county officials discovered the structures did not meet the county zoning and building requirements for residential use.
“We want to get them to a habitable use. When I came into office, I looked for months at what our options were,” Vogel said.
According to Vogel, the homes were originally intended to be used as housing, but significant upgrades would be needed before they could meet code requirements.
“They were only seven feet tall and need to be nine feet tall in order to be used for habitation,” Vogel explained. “We looked at how much it would cost to completely finish them, and it would have been another $2 million, which we did not have.”
Rather than invest additional taxpayer dollars into the project, county officials began exploring other options and reached out to local organizations that could benefit from the structures.
Although the county will no longer use the homes as originally intended, Vogel said she is confident they can still serve a valuable purpose in the community.
The county is currently in the process of transferring the homes to area organizations. Vogel noted that because the structures were built using funding from AARP, the county is not permitted to sell them.
“The reason we have to give them away is because they were created with AARP dollars and you cannot make money on AARP dollars,” she said.
Contracts are currently being finalized, and once completed, the buildings will be relocated to their new destinations.
“I’ll be very glad when they are with organizations that can actually use them for something,” Vogel said. “Maybe not the use that was originally intended, but they will be in locations where they can provide value instead of just sitting on county property.”
Vogel said she hopes all 25 tiny homes will be relocated and put to use by the end of the summer.