Walker Co. to ponder tiny home and other ordinance changes

Walker County officials are crafting ordinance amendments for tiny homes.

Walker County Planning Commission Chairman Micheal Haney shared the commission’s tiny house ordinance recommendations with the Walker County Board of Commissioners during the commission’s June 24 meeting; the commissioners discussed their thoughts on the subject and authorized County Attorney David Gottlieb to prepare a draft ordinance amendment on this and some other changes they wanted to make to the county’s Land Development Code. The draft ordinance would amend the code to add a definition for a tiny home, reduce the size of required road frontage in certain zones and increase the number of residential dwellings allowed on a private drive.

A public hearing on these proposed amendments will take place at the Walker County Planning Commission meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16, at the Walker

County Civic Center, 10052 Highway 27, Rock Spring. A second public hearing will take place at the Board of Commissioners meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 14, at the Walker County Courthouse Annex III building, 201 S. Main St., LaFayette.

Under the proposed amendment, a tiny home would be defined as any residential structure with less than 500 square feet and would be required to meet existing applicable building codes. A tiny home would require a conditional use permit in A-1, R-A, R-1, R-2 or R-3 zones, and only certain types of tiny homes would be allowed in R-1, R-3 and A-1 zones.

The proposed changes include reducing the required road frontage from 100 feet to 75 feet in R-1 and R-2 zones.

County leaders will consider increasing the number of single-family residential dwellings allowed on a private drive from four to seven, as well as increasing the width of a private drive from 30 feet to 50 feet.

To review the draft ordinance go to walkercountyga.gov.