East Hampton Town moves forward on a plan for ADU’s
Whether you call them “Tiny Homes” or Tiny Houses”, these small, fully equipped residences, commonly called “ADU”’s, are poised to become part of the solution to the affordable housing shortage in the Hamptons. With more than 150 manufacturers and a broad range of designs, sizes, layouts and prices, there is one for every taste, most with all the comforts of a traditional home, including full kitchen, bath and sleeping accommodations.
With the continuing increase in local property values and rental prices, living locally has become less affordable for most teachers, health care workers, municipal employees and local business staff. In addition, the all-too-familiar daily “trade parade” of service vehicles to and from the West adds travel time, traffic challenges and expenses to their daily commute.
Thanks to the forward-thinking East Hampton Town Board, spearheaded by Town Councilmember and Housing Community Development Liaison Ian Calder-Piedmonte, a variety of options for Tiny Home ADU’s is being explored and implemented. Obtaining a Permit to construct on a Town property requires certain regulations and procedures to be followed. First of all, the minimum lot area under consideration must be 15,000 square feet. A detached Tiny Home must be between 300 and 600 square feet in living area, with a maximum of 2 bedrooms, and must be the tenant’s only and primary residence. It may be occupied by a Family member or a year-round renter, whose rent may not exceed 130 per cent of the current fair market rent (usually about $2,500). Either situation requires the usual renter registration with the Town. The property owner must provide two off the road parking spaces and an approved septic system.
Councilmember Calder-Piedmonte has implemented other approaches to including Tiny Homes in East Hampton’s future. Ten applicants have recently won a Town lottery and are eligible to receive a $100,000 interest-free loan to offset construction costs. The budget for the loans will come from a newly created Community Housing Fund, funded by a real estate transfer tax. Also, the Town is now accepting up to 40 ADU building applications per East Hampton School District, with an overall maximum of 200.
Tiny Homes themselves have an incredible range available of exterior styles, interior layouts, including options of one or two stories, one or two bedrooms, patios, solar panels and much more.
The pioneer in the world of Tiny Homes manufacturers is BOXABL of North Las Vegas, Nevada (boxabl.com). According to Co-Founder Galiano Tiramani, the vision in 2017 was to create high tech versions of the classic assembly line for “automotive-style mass production as applied to houses”, with the final modular products interstate trailer transportable and following government size and axle configuration guidelines. Speaking of early adopters, when technology genius and pioneer Elon Musk needed a guest house on his SpaceX property in Boca Chica (now called “Starbase”), Texas, he chose to purchase a 361 square foot prototype of BOXABL’s Casita model, now their best-selling product line.
It will be interesting to follow the rollout of East Hampton’s ADU program, which was specifically designed to alleviate the affordable housing problem, and to see where the next Tiny Home will appear. Amazon and Walmart have recently listed them in their offerings, so, who knows what’s next?
