Like many young couples in Vancouver, Ethan and Morgan Woltersdorf set out to find a home only to discover most apartments were priced just outside of their reach.
So they decided to shrink their expectations.
About seven months ago, newlyweds Ethan, 21, and Morgan, 22, moved into a 300-square-foot tiny house on wheels. The cozy cabin is built on a converted manufactured home trailer and parked on a family member’s property in Salmon Creek. For $20,000 — and assists from relatives and friends who are engineers and construction workers — the pair became homeowners.
“Ultimately, that’s all we can afford to live in,” said Ethan Woltersdorf, a Washington State University Vancouver student.
But the Woltersdorfs say Clark County, despite its recently adopted accessory dwelling unit policies, is souring their dream. The couple received a letter from Clark County code enforcement telling them their tiny house did not comply with county code and to stop living there.
“Which is insane. I can’t just move somewhere at the click of a button,” Ethan Woltersdorf said.
While Clark County eased its standards for accessory dwelling units in January, a tiny house on wheels like the Woltersdorf home may still not be considered a legal dwelling, according to code enforcement officials. County code allows for accessory dwelling units no smaller than 150 square feet and no larger than 1,600 square feet, so long as they’re constructed or mounted on a foundation.
The county — and many other jurisdictions — view tiny houses on wheels as recreational vehicles. There are, however, changes the Woltersdorfs can make to their home to bring it into compliance.
A manufactured home built off-site and approved by Labor and Industries may have wheels, but it must be set up on a property under a manufactured dwelling permit, the county’s chief building official Jim Muir said. The home must be on an allowed foundation, and usually the wheels are removed.
Recreational vehicles, motor homes and travel trailers, however, are not allowed for long-term occupancy in Clark County outside of an RV park, code enforcement manager Paul Scarpelli said.
“Once the wheels are removed, it becomes eligible for occupancy, upon meeting permit requirements,” Scarpelli said.
But it’s not so simple as popping the wheels off and calling it good. The Woltersdorfs estimate they’ll pay $1,800 for a site plan review, another $2,900 for impact fees, plus the cost of whatever permitting, engineering and materials it could cost to set the home on a legal foundation.
“It feels like we’re being punished for being fiscally responsible,” Morgan Woltersdorf said.
Republican County Councilor John Blom, who voted in support of the updated accessory dwelling unit code, said the county’s intention was never to exclude tiny houses like the one the Woltersdorfs call home.
“Tiny homes are so new that we’re not sure how to classify them,” he said. “How do we differentiate in the code what is a tiny house ADU compared to a tiny house recreational vehicle?”
The county is taking “baby steps” toward taking pressure off Clark County’s housing crunch, said Blom, the managing broker for Hasson Company Realtors Vancouver office. Part of that means providing a variety of housing options, like accessory dwelling units, to Clark County residents.
“We recognize it’s not going to be the one thing that solves the problem, but if it can help provide a solution to some people, that’s a good reason to do it,” he said.
Ethan Woltersdorf acknowledged the county is making strides to support tiny homes, but he said the county needs to do more to consider alternate dwellings like the tiny houses on wheels that have become popular in recent years.
“Realistically, you could see this cost get up to around $10,000 or even more,” Ethan Woltersdorf said of the cost to put their home on a foundation. “And in this case, that is 50 percent the cost of my home.”
He added: “The county’s solution for affordable housing is not so affordable.”
