SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Could tiny homes in your backyard be the next best solution for the current affordable housing crisis? Or will people only build them to make money off short-term rentals like Airbnb?
Slowly but surely, more and more cities in the Wasatch Front are approving external additional dwelling units (ADUs).
"In looking at a number of our peers, we saw that other cities were having good success after hard policy debates," said Jonathan Weidenhamer, South Salt Lake's economic development director.
The South Salt Lake Council is deciding whether or not to change the city code to allow external ADUs. State code already allows internal ADUs.
An example of an internal ADU would be a basement renovated and rented out as an apartment.
"This is a much better solution that doesn't impact the community in the same way throwing up a big apartment high rise does," said Jonathan Hitzhusen, owner of Backyard Office Utah.
Hitzhusen is currently building an external ADU in his backyard that he intends to rent out to families.
"The backyard office sheds tend to get classified under a shed because they're less than 200 square feet," he explained. "As soon as you go above that and start adding plumbing, it just becomes a little bit of a different animal."
It's more work, but helpful for renters or multi-generational families.
"A lot of times you have families, their kids are growing up and they can't afford to rent, let alone buy. Building an ADU on the back of a property might be a good solution to help them get on their feet," he said.
By definition, external ADUs have a kitchen and bathroom.
Each city code has different parameters in place for what is and isn't allowed.
If approved, South Salt Lake external ADUs cannot be taller than twenty feet or exceed the primary structure (whichever is more restrictive).
"We don't want to necessarily allow these dwellings to overpower size and scale of existing neighborhoods," said Weidenhamer.
The owner would be required to live on the property (U.S. military members excluded), offer on-site parking, and cannot rent it out as an Airbnb.
"This is intended to have long-term residents, have people that are part of the community," he said. "It's not intended so that we can have nightly rentals, people that are just visiting for a weekend, leaving their trash and noise behind."
Weidenhamer said the South Salt Lake City Council will consider taking action at its next meeting on Feb. 7.
