I should be clear that, despite the absurdities in their codebooks, our local housing officials are not necessarily absurd people. This is important to remember if you are about to seek their approval for a project. Building codes are made at the national level, but they are adopted, tailored and enforced at the local level. View your housing department as the helpful resource it wants to be, not as an adversary. Once your local officials are politely informed about the actual consequences of the codes they have been touting, the codes are likely to change. Be sure to provide plenty of evidence about the merits of smaller houses, including documentation of projects similar to the one you intend to build. Codes are generally amended annually by means of a review and hearing process anyone in the community can take part in.
Diplomacy is one way of clearing the way for a small house. Moving is another. Some remote areas of the country have no building codes at all, and a few others have a special "owner-builder” zoning category that exempts people who want to build their own homes from all but minimal government oversight. Provisions for alternative construction projects also exist. Section 104.11 of the International Building Code encourages local departments to — weigh the benefits of alternative design, materials and methods in the course of evaluating a project. Several counties permit accessory dwellings. These small outbuildings are also known as "granny flats” because they can be inhabited by a guest, teenager, or elderly member of the family.
Terminology can sometimes provide wiggle-room within the laws. "Temporary housing” is, for example, a term often used by codebooks to describe "any tent, trailer, motor home or other structure used for human shelter and designed to be transportable and not attached to the ground, to another struc-
ture or to any utility system on the same premises for more than 30 calendar days.” Such structures are usually exempt from building codes. So, as long as a small home is built to be portable, with its own solar panel, composting toilet, and rain water collection system (or just unplugged once a month), it can sometimes be inhabited on the lot of an existing residence indefinitely.
Most municipalities are eager to endorse a socially-responsible project, but occasionally, a less savvy housing department will dig in its heels. When relocating to an area where smaller homes are legal is not an option, there may still be recourse. Political pressure can be applied on departments to great effect. While an official may have no trouble telling one individual that his plans for an affordable, high-quality, ecologically-sound home will not fly, the same official may have a great deal more trouble letting his objections be known publicly through the media. Newspeople love a good David-and — Goliath story as much as their audiences do.
As mentioned earlier, minimum-size standards have been found to be unconstitutional in several U. S. courts. If all else fails, a lawsuit against the local municipality remains a final option. This strategy, and any involving political pressure through the media, should be reserved only for circumstances where all other avenues have been explored and exhausted. Remember that ridiculous codes do not usually reflect the mind-set of those who have been asked to enforce them. Take it easy on your local officials and they will more than likely make things easy for you.
