Kalispell city councilors updated tiny home regulations Monday evening, bringing the city in line with state code and its new land use plan. In writing the plan earlier this year in accordance with the Montana Land Use Planning Act (MLUPA), councilors identified tiny homes as one of the city’s housing strategies.
The tiny home appendix adds construction standards for buildings under 400 square feet. The city has existing building codes for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) between 400 and 1000 square feet, and the new code lays out smaller size requirements for units under 400 square feet.
City Building Official Sean McRae pointed to a unit currently under construction at the Linderman Education Center that will include a 64-square-foot bedroom. Under the building code governing larger ADUs, the room would normally have to be at least 70 square feet.
“I think a lot of people hear regulations for tiny homes and they think, ‘Oh you’re adding cost, you’re going to make it more difficult to build because there’s more scrutiny, there’s more cost involved,’” Mayor Ryan Hunter said. “But actually, it’s the reverse of that.”
Following state code, the city also changed the penalty for violating various building and fire codes from a criminal offense to a civil infraction. City staff said a civil infraction is more appropriate for such violations and that fines would be a last resort to help with compliance.
“That’s mainly to follow suit with the majority of city ordinances,” McRae said. “We’re obviously not going to take somebody to jail or arrest them criminally for violating these codes.”
Councilors said the changes would make it easier to ensure businesses and other buildings maintain necessary fire and safety systems, and that it was a more appropriate way to penalize city code infractions.