No action was taken by Fulton City Council members this week during a meeting in which a proposed ordinance about tiny houses was discussed.
The proposed ordinance came after a Jan. 2 meeting of the city's planning and zoning commission.
As houses age in Fulton and are torn down, some of the lots have remained unbuildable and vacant because of house-size to lot-size ratios. According to city Administrator Bill Johnson, while the "standard lot" in Fulton is 7,000 square feet, there are "substandard" lots as small as 4,000 square feet that could easily handle a tiny house, something less than the 900-square-foot structure that is the minimum size on a standard lot.
Dennis Houchins, the city's planning and zoning director, said he had changed the wording in the proposed ordinance from "habitable space" to "living space" - living space includes interior spaces such as hallways and bathrooms.
Councilmember Jeffrey Stone said he opposed a use of footprint rather than square feet in determining how much room on the lot the house would take up. Footprint would not include any second-story space in the calculation of house size. Square footage would include second-story spaces as living space.
Councilmember Richard Vaughn expressed concern about tiny houses in general.
"They're just too small to raise a family in," he said.
But many people who want tiny houses are single people, childless couples and older folks who don't want or need a larger home.
The tiny house movement also includes homes on wheels, but in Fulton, those are already covered by another ordinance. This proposed ordinance only addresses permanent structures on foundations, Houchins said.
The proposed ordinance language states "The R-1, R-2 and/or R-3 residential structure must cover a minimum of 900 square feet on a standard lot (7,000 square feet). On a substandard lot (less than 7,000 square feet), the residential structure must cover a minimum of 12 percent of the square footage of a substandard lot with a minimum of 400 square feet of living space."
The subject of tiny houses in Fulton arose in 2017 when a homeowner built a two-story tiny home on south U.S. Business 54 near Tennyson Drive. That home, on a pie-shaped lot, was legally constructed - but some people didn't like the looks of it or thought it damaged surrounding property values.
One person thought a tiny house could be used as a real estate "comp" or comparison. Comps, however, take into account size, style, condition and features - not merely location.
City Council members looked at a proposed ordinance in late September 2017. That draft ordinance called for 500 square feet of "habitable" space that covers at least 10 percent of the lot's square footage. That ordinance was tabled.