Committee on Design

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Hello,

I am a residential architect living in a solar-powered Airstream Tiny House.  Here in California, we are experiencing a housing boom that is completely unaffordable for most of the middle class.  I see the Tiny House movement as one possible solution for this issue. Even though the State of California requires a percentage of "affordable" housing units in every county and city, state and local laws and regulations are in conflict with each other and prevent counting Tiny Houses as affordable housing.  This indirectly prevents the creation of affordable Tiny House Villages.  Local cities and counties have their own prejudices with regard to "affordable housing" and are discriminating against the acceptance and creation of any solution related to this model.  I am seeking support though the AIA to identify, confront and resolve this pattern of discrimination so that we can have access to as many solutions to the affordable housing crisis as possible.  Please contact me if you can refer me to others working on this issue, either privately, locally on on the state level.

Thanks,



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David Ludwig
Sausalito CA
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Here in Portland the government recently contracted with a company to design and build tiny houses to help house the homeless population. I believe there are other similar initiatives in other cities across the country. 

Portland also has been promoting ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units, or granny flats), as a way to diversify the housing stock and provide more affordable housing options without disrupting the residential neighborhood fabrics. My firm - Propel Studio - actually has carved out a niche in the ADU design market. We have 4-5 ADUs about to start construction. Many of our clients are building them in order to downsize their lifestyles and then rent out their main houses. This is a great way for them to be more financially stable, earning revenue off the rental of the main house. 

The city has actually waived many of the permitting fees for these ADUs, at least until mid-2016. 

However, unfortunately they have a very restrictive ADU zoning code the drastically limits the design of these buildings and forces people to make the ADUs look like the main house regardless of what the client wants, what the quality of the main house is, or if the ADU is even visible from the street. It is an unfortunate zoning code and something many people are actively pushing for change. 

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Lucas Gray Assoc. AIA
Owner
Propel Studio Architecture
Portland OR
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