Burke County commissioners add tiny homes to zoning code

Tiny homes will now have a formal definition in Burke County’s zoning ordinance that describes what constitutes a tiny house by state standards.

The addition to Burke’s zoning ordinance is part of a larger effort to modernize the county’s development standards, expand housing options, and overall minimize the hurdles homeowners may face.

Burke County Planner Patrick Dickinson presented zoning ordinance amendments to the Board of Commissioners Monday just after Chief Building Inspector Kenneth Greene’s presentation on county building code amendments. Proposed changes in both areas would align the county’s laws and standards more closely with state statutes.

County commissioners unanimously approved of Dickinson’s and Greene’s proposals.

MORE HOUSING OPTIONS

Not only are tiny homes written into the ordinance, but standards for accessory dwelling units such as garage apartments and guest houses have been updated.

Tiny homes can be up to 400 square feet and must be on a permanent foundation with no wheels or chassis. This classifies them as permanent dwellings and separates them from RVs or campers.

Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are simply small dwellings that include a kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping space on the same lot as a primary dwelling unit. ADUs are separate from the full-size home, according to the ordinance.

One change was to clarify that accessory dwellings can be connected to the full-size home. The original wording implied that accessory dwellings must be detached.

Another change increases the size limit for ADUs — a highly requested adjustment, Dickinson said.

“We knew (it) wasn’t working,” Dickinson said. “We received about three to four cases a month at the Board of Adjustment for this, so that told us we needed to make some adjustments.”

The size allotments for accessory dwellings are now 1,500 square feet on lots under 1 acre. Lots between 1 and 3 acres allow for 2,400 square feet. For any lot larger than 3 acres, the allotment is 4,000 square feet.

“We’re also going to build an exemption for existing structures,” Dickinson said. “A lot of folks have old barns, old sheds, things like that, and we don’t want that becoming a burden on those folks either.”

BUILDING AND PERMITTING

Changes were made to Chapter 10, Buildings & Building Regulations in Burke’s Code of Ordinances to modernize it by establishing a uniform code enforcement process and streamlining and standardizing other processes for permitting and inspections, said Chief Building Inspector Greene.

Greene said the original code was written more than three decades ago in 1993. The amendments to Burke’s Code of Ordinances will bring it to the 21st century, he said.

The amendments also address minimum housing requirements and create a clear outline of the condemnation process.

Planning Director and Deputy County Manager Alan Glines suggested at the Feb. 4 pre-agenda meeting to update the Board of Adjustment’s responsibilities to include allowing it to act as a Housing Appeals Board when a property is condemned.

After some discussion at the pre-agenda meeting, commissioners came to the consensus that they would prefer to perform in that role responding to condemnations as they always have.

As a result, Greene said the idea of having the Board of Adjustment act as a Housing Appeals Board when needed was axed.

SPRING CITIZENS ACADEMY

Following feedback from the first class, the county is gearing up to kick off its second Citizens Academy on April 9.

The Citizens Academy was designed as a six-week course to give participants a better understanding of how county government works. Each week focuses on different departments and topics.

County Manager Brian Epley said the next course will be seven weeks long, accommodate a class of 20, and classes will go up from 90 minutes to two hours.

“We’ve also designed an interactive budget process that we think is really, really helpful in seeing some of the challenges of attaching scarce resources to multiple priorities,” Epley said.

Applications are now open and can be submitted online at www.burkenc.org/2632/Citizens-Academy.

INTERBASIN WATER TRANSFER

Western Piedmont Council of Governments Executive Director Anthony Starr gave an update on Charlotte’s controversial request for 30 million more gallons of water per day out of the Catawba River Basin.

The process is currently paused thanks to a bill passed by the General Assembly last year that froze new interbasin water transfer requests for 15 million or more gallons of water per day.

Rep. Hugh Blackwell and Sen. Warren Daniel were key players in passing the bill.

The pause is in effect until March 2027. In the meantime, the North Carolina Collaboratory at UNC Chapel Hill will study the issue of large interbasin water transfers to provide recommendations to the General Assembly when the pause is lifted.