More tiny houses coming to Garfield? (Pittsburgh, York: apartment, rental, neighborhood)

[eschaton]

My wife mentioned something to me last night about a new zoning overlay for tiny homes in Garfield. Lo and behold, there is a hearing on it on April 3rd. Here is the proposed regulations, and here is the map of the affected area.

The bottom line is it will now be legal everywhere in Garfield to have a secondary unit on lot, provided the following is true.

1. The parcel in question is homeowner occupied.
2. The second unit (which can be a free-standing new tiny home, a subdivision of the house, or the conversion of a garage or something else) is less than 800 square feet.
3. The structure is less than two stories/30 feet tall.

There will be no required off-street parking for the secondary units, and minimum lot size/lot size per unit are waived, but zoning otherwise remains in force.

I do not see this leading to a boom in tiny houses. Relatively few homes in Garfield are owner occupied and have residents with the means to afford this. The neighborhood has a lot of vacant lots still waiting for redevelopment. And most of what makes tiny homes too expensive to build in Pittsburgh has nothing to do with zoning, and everything to do with the ridiculous expense of PWSA hookups (IIRC $20,000 for sewer hookups, regardless of the size of the house).

On the other hand, this does mean that any home in Garfield can be turned into a legal two-unit, provided it is owner occupied at the time. So I'm guessing we'll see a few more of the larger homes chopped up as a result.

[Moby Hick]

This seems like a return to the old idea of building houses in the backyard, usually on an alley, as an extra source of income for the owner. You can still see some of these these in part of Oakland, but I think most of them were pushed down when the population of the city dropped.

[guy2073]

I wonder how long the owner has to occupy the house? It says it can be attached to or part of an existing structure, that would save having to pay tap fees.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by guy2073

I wonder how long the owner has to occupy the house? It says it can be attached to or part of an existing structure, that would save having to pay tap fees.

I'm wondering how you prove the main unit is owner occupied. Taking the homestead exemption?

There is apparently a company out in Portland now which will build a tiny home in your backyard for free in exchange for most of the rent, with the owner having the option to buy out the remaining value of the tiny home at any time. Basically you get a small secondary income source for renting your backyard to the company, and need to do nothing, because the company takes care of the property management side of things.

[svband76]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

This seems like a return to the old idea of building houses in the backyard, usually on an alley, as an extra source of income for the owner. You can still see some of these these in part of Oakland, but I think most of them were pushed down when the population of the city dropped.

Would like to see a photo of these possible. Had no idea. Thanks.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by zalewskimm

Would like to see a photo of these possible. Had no idea. Thanks.

The core portion of South Oakland only really has one alley (York Way) which only has a handful of houses. But the alleys in South Side and Lawrenceville are packed with houses, which were indeed mostly initially built to provide rental income for the homeowners on the primary street.

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I'm wondering how you prove the main unit is owner occupied. Taking the homestead exemption?

There is apparently a company out in Portland now which will build a tiny home in your backyard for free in exchange for most of the rent, with the owner having the option to buy out the remaining value of the tiny home at any time. Basically you get a small secondary income source for renting your backyard to the company, and need to do nothing, because the company takes care of the property management side of things.

I think income tax returns would be an easy way of checking, I don't see them doing that unless there are complaints.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The core portion of South Oakland only really has one alley (York Way) which only has a handful of houses. But the alleys in South Side and Lawrenceville are packed with houses, which were indeed mostly initially built to provide rental income for the homeowners on the primary street.

But is there a name that would let me google an image or article? I can't find one.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

But is there a name that would let me google an image or article? I can't find one.

Dude, don't you know how to streetview?

I even found an alley house in Shadyside.

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Dude, don't you know how to streetview?

I even found an alley house in Shadyside.

These places are all over Pittsburgh and the mon valley, I am negotiating on one now in Braddock, it is a house with an apartment over the garage.