Sometimes You Can Choose Your Neighbor

Macy Miller is a big name in the tiny house world and has some great resources. One of these I found extremely helpful was a video class, I grabbed one on parking your tiny house. Fantastic buy! Macy is an architect and has a great understanding of the building codes and zoning laws.

Here is the low down. There are a couple different ways to classify a tiny house on a trailer, the most logical for my situation is calling it an RV. This means my home would fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation- not the Department of Housing that has stricter regulations on what spaces you can live in. While there are still regulations and inspections required, these are fairly simple.

My trailer, which is the foundation of my house, is required to have specific safety features (most trailer builders are very familiar with these). The completed house also has to fit within certain measurements.  These measurements are pretty standard across the country to make sure someone doesn't take a bridge out with their trailer. All this info can be found buried on your state's transportation website.

In PA the trailer cannot be more than 8 ft 6 in wide, longer than 40 ft and have a gross weight under 38,000 lbs. Again, most tiny house builders are very familiar with these regulations and work within them.

The next step would be zoning. This part is a little more wobbly... There isn't a residential code for tiny homes, though most would be legal in trailer parks. That is not always an option or favorable choice. The thing with zoning is there are not zoning officers going around checking that a hair salon isn't opening up in a neighborhood or a tiny house isn't parked in someone's backyard. If no one calls to complain, you can park your tiny home in a residential area.
Macy recommends not just getting permission from the landowners where you are parking but the neighbors as well. If everyone is on board with your house, there should be no complaints to zoning (as long as you aren't an obnoxious neighbor). But should any issues arise, houses on wheels are relatively easy to move!

Now comes the awkward part. I don't have any close friends or family with land to park, so I have to look elsewhere. So anyone willing to let me park in your backyard? If anyone owns land with space, preferably in the North Hills not too far from I-279, and would like a considerate renter (who also wouldn't mind doing yard work). Must be okay with a friendly but occasionally loud beagle.

Look at that sweet face!

If this sounds even slightly interesting, feel free to contact me via the messenger on the right.