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Owen County commission agrees to let building administrator consider variances for homes smaller than 650 sq ft
Summary
Commissioners voted to allow case-by-case variances for dwellings between the state tiny-home limit (400 sq ft) and the countys 650-square-foot minimum, directing the building administrator to adjudicate exceptions; the change passed by voice vote.
The Owen County planning commission voted to allow variances to the county's 650-square-foot minimum dwelling standard to be considered on a case-by-case basis by the building administrator.
Commission discussion began after Speaker 2 noted there is no statewide standard for conventional stick-built homes but that manufactured homes and tiny homes have state thresholds: "manufactured homes at 320 square feet" and a "maximum allowance for tiny homes at 400 square feet" (Speaker 2). Commissioners said the county's ordinance currently references a 650-square-foot minimum while customary practice has sometimes used larger thresholds.
Speaker 7 proposed that "variances to the 650 minimum square footage will be considered on a case by case" basis and asked whether the building administrator or board would be the decisionmaker; Speaker 6 seconded the motion and the commission approved it by voice vote.
The commission discussed practical concerns raised during the debate: septic and well capacity for small dwellings, whether temporary or mobile tiny homes should be treated differently, and whether tiny homes on foundations would be considered stick-built dwellings. Commissioners repeatedly emphasized that homes at or below the state-defined tiny-home maximum (400 sq ft) are a distinct regulatory class and that units between 400 and 650 sq ft present a regulatory gap that the building administrator would now evaluate when variances are sought.
The motion does not change the ordinance's stated minimum; it adds a documented variance pathway and clarifies that the building administrator (denoted in discussion as the BBA) will handle individual exceptions. The commission did not adopt a new numeric minimum in place of 650 but instructed staff to reflect the variance language in the ordinance and to return with drafted text at a later meeting.
The commission also noted forms and ordinance cross-references will be updated later in the process so the variance procedure and the ordinance citations are consistent.
