We are all aware there is a housing crisis in America. Not enough affordable housing and little or no housing for the poor and homeless are problems just about every city in the US is facing.
Add in the huge influx of immigrants into certain areas of the country and it can be overwhelming for many city councils to deal with.
Enter the City of Oakland, CA.
With the goal of expanding options for Oakland residents who can’t afford traditional homes, the City Council on Tuesday approved a package of ordinances that allow RVs, mobile homes, manufactured homes and tiny houses to occupy residential properties throughout the city.
In amending the city’s zoning and building codes to permit those structures — referred to as “vehicular residential facilities” — the council eliminated a decades-old city requirement that all residential units be built on a permanent foundation. That requirement effectively outlawed RVs in Oakland. But as the homeless population has grown in recent years, hundreds of them have been parked around the city.
In addition to giving RV and mobile home dwellers legal and safe spots to settle in, the council placed them under the protection of the city’s rent control laws.
The ordinances will become law when the council formally adopts them in mid-November.
Each vehicular facility would be considered a residential unit, subject to the same density limitations as the neighborhoods they’re located in.
As long as the occupants of two or more RVs on a lot don’t pay rent, they would be exempt from a state law that requires them to have their own kitchens, bathrooms and potable water lines inside. But they would need to have access to those amenities on the site.
Related Articles:
- NIMBY Opposition Forces Tiny House Community To Move
- Oakland, CA Proposes To Open Residential Neighborhoods To All Types Of Housing
- Are Nonprofits Skirting Local Zoning And Codes When Setting Up Homeless Villages?
Gary Fleisher is the Editor in Chief of Modular Home Source. Email at [email protected]
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