We started this editorial series with an interview at The Lift coffeehouse — a chat with Sarah and Travis Troxtell. The Troxtells have three kids, and a dream of creating a ‘tiny home village’ on a 26-acre parcel south of downtown Pagosa Springs.
Until very recently, a person could not legally live year-round in a tiny home on wheels — a THOW — in Archuleta County, even when the home could provide all the amenities necessary to a safe and (reasonably) comfortable existence.
For many years, our local governments considered a THOW to be a ‘recreational vehicle’.
A THOW is not an RV. An RV is designed to be driven from place to place for ‘recreational’ purposes, and is actually a ‘vehicle’ with an engine, headlights and a steering wheel.
A THOW is designed to be a permanent home, after being towed to a suitable location and connected to utilities. A THOW does not have an engine, headlights or a steering wheel. A THOW is a house that can be moved from place to place. It’s actually as ‘mobile home’ that doesn’t look like a typical ‘mobile home’. (A mobile home is now designated as a “manufactured home”.)
But local governments have typically classified a THOW as an RV. Which is slightly crazy.
Archuleta County recently updated its Land Use Regulations to clarify what a THOW actually is:
Tiny Home: A Single-Family Dwelling that is permanently constructed on a vehicle chassis; is designed for long-term residency, includes electrical, mechanical, or plumbing services that are fabricated, formed, or assembled at a location other than the site of the completed home; is not self-propelled; has a square footage of not more than four hundred (400) square feet and a length less than forty (40) feet; and with all appropriate Colorado Division of Housing insignia affixed. A Recreational Vehicle is not considered a Tiny Home. (CRS 24-32-3302)
There was a time, not too long ago, when an Archuleta County resident could legally live in a tent. Or in an RV. Or in a cardboard box, for that matter. But for so many reasons, our local governments determined that only certain types of shelter will be allowed, legally. You could not, for example, live year-round in a fully-equipped RV in Archuleta County, until just a few months ago. Then the County Planning Department updated the Land Use Regulations, to allow year-round occupancy of an RV, while we struggle with the current housing crisis.
The allowance, now, for persons to live year-round in a THOW is presumably part of that same effort to solve a serious housing crisis, which is also a serious workforce crisis.
But there’s a qualification.
A THOW in Archuleta County must have “all appropriate Colorado Division of Housing insignia affixed.” As far as I can determine, this implies that a THOW must be built in a certified factory. Although an ordinary American citizen is allowed to build their own home of any size — to meet building codes — it would appear that the state of Colorado currently requires a THOW to be built in a manufacturing facility. Personally, I find this to be crazy.
Human beings have been building their own homes for 300,000 years.
We have fair number of construction companies in Pagosa Springs, building homes for sale. None of these construction companies need to be “certified”. Meanwhile, there is no certified factory in Pagosa Springs, if you want to purchase a THOW.
The state of Colorado wants to address the housing crisis — but can’t seem to get out of its own way.
Nevertheless, that’s where we are today, and that’s yet another thing Travis and Sarah Troxtell will be dealing with as they build out their proposed tiny home village.
The village still needs to be zoned as a ‘mobile home park’ and that public hearing is scheduled for April 15.
Near the conclusion of about interview at The Lift, I asked Travis and Sarah if they would be willing to share financial information with us. Like, how much does it cost, to take a vacant piece of land and turn it into a tiny home village?
Buying the property.
Drilling the community well.
Having the site surveyed.
Producing engineering drawings.
Doing the traffic study required by CDOT.
Paying government application fees.
Sarah wasn’t sure they wanted to share the total spent, so far, in a Daily Post article. But I can share the fact that it’s far more than I could ever hope to invest, living as I do mainly on Social Security.
Here’s Sarah:
“My background is in building products. We’ve already invested more than we should have, to understand the demand for something like this. We’re going to the Planning Commission and hopefully, we will get re-zoned.
“And then, seeing how much interest there is. Because we’re not going to build the roads and put in the infrastructure… We’re keeping the door open, for something else, if this doesn’t work out.
“So, we’re really interested to know, at this point, how many people in the area would want this. What the demand is…”
I told them, I thought there would be a lot more interest if someone in town was building tiny homes on wheels. ‘Certified’ of course.
Sarah:
“There’s a person in Tennessee who builds incredible tiny homes. We called him. Very cool. He pulled himself up by his bootstraps… he builds them very affordably.
“We talked to him about doing a partnership with him, where he would come up with three or four models for us, and then we’d sell them to people…”
Is there be enough demand, in Archuleta County, to fill a 40-unit tiny home village? Hard to tell.
The Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation believed there was enough demand, here, for 35 government-subsidized single-family homes in the Pagosa Trails/Chris Mountain subdivision, priced at $320,000 to $390,000.
So far, they’ve found only two buyers who could qualify.
Maybe the new Housing Needs Assessment, due to be delivered to Archuleta County next month, will give us some ideas?