The Austin City Council is considering allowing allowing tiny homes and recreational vehicles to be used as accessory dwellings in single-family neighborhoods as a tool to create more affordable – or, as Council Member Leslie Pool prefers, "attainable" — housing .
Austin’s current Land Development Code allows such dwellings to be used as homes only in designated places, such as mobile home parks, campgrounds, or other commercially zoned areas. The City Council took a look at relaxing that code at its Thursday, discussing a Pool-authored resolution to initiate changes that would allow tiny homes and RVs as accessory dwelling units in single-family zoning districts. If implemented, the change would allow owners to connect utilities to the units; currently, they can only be stored on property in single-family residential districts.
The resolution, which the council approved on consent, directs the city manager to propose the changes to the Land Development Code and bring an ordinance for it to review and adopt by November 30.. To address concerns about the revised code leading to an increase in short-term rentals in the city, the resolution also directs the city manager to propose regulations that would require registration with the city if the unit is to be used as a short-term rental.
