Real Estate Ad: Bring Your RV!!

[hnash53]

What's the difference between "bringing your RV" to a piece of undeveloped property that you own, and building a pier post system that does not penetrate the ground (posts are not sunk in concrete but sit on gravel pads or concrete pads just like some long-term RVs do)?

Yurts are portable structures... couldn't I buy a piece of undeveloped land and put a Yurt on it without the code police getting involved?

My cabin in Wyoming was built on gravel pads... no posts were sunk into the ground.  It's still standing after 12 years, hasn't moved a bit, strong as ever.  It's equipped with 12v power system, I haul water, solar powered, RV toilet drains into RV totes, etc.

The point:  I'm looking for bare, undeveloped land that I can build a tiny house on.  Does such a place even exist anymore without interference from authority?

[Steve_B]

YURTS are very interesting in a scenario as you are looking for, pretty nice design actually...

[Don_P]

The codes don't usually prohibit things outright unless they are really bad practices. What it generally says is that if you want to use alternative methods or materials that you have to have someone with recognized expertise, generally an architect or engineer, design the portion that is alternative. For instance you see piling foundations at the coast frequently, where they make sense. These are engineered foundations and since it is a common foundation type there, the engineers that do that type of work are there and competitive. If your proposed alternative is not too far afield then a local engineer can probably help you work through it. As they get further outside the norm it can be harder to find a good engineer. There might be a couple of dozen thoroughly versed timberframe engineers in the country, you can get lvl designs stamped for free. Some alternative manufacturers have the engineering done to satisfy local conditions as part of or as an additional option in the terms of providing their product. I've built log homes that required engineering, sometimes in house, at times when the in house engineer didn't carry a state's stamp the work was done by an in state engineer.

I don't particularly love our present system but I've seen the results of overzealous owner builders more than once. We have an ag exemption in my state, farm buildings do not have to be inspected. I personally love it. But, I saw one large barn blow down. As he was working I kept driving by thinking he must be incorporating steel bracing I couldn't see between his posts. He wasn't. Another was started under an ag permit but was really a residence. While under a stop work but being lived in it burned down. Another here is stopped and will collapse from decay before long. None of them were safe structures by any stretch of the imagination but somebody dreamed them up and thought they ought to be able to go out there and wing it. They are asking that those ideas be tempered by reason.

Recreational lots, we have them. They evacuate during bad weather and campers have been removed from the pilings of the bridges here. I've lived on jobsites in one for over a decade... and we've been lucky several times in both wind and flood. We evacuated it a few times as well. They have their lobby but they aren't safe shelter. Generally alternative methods and materials are not prohibited, but they often do have the additional cost of needing engineering.

[OlJarhead]

Sure, but you probably have to go further west for them and be far enough out of the way that no one is going to come looking!

[roadtripray]

In my county, it is against the code to live in an RV, even for an overnight stay, unless you are in a designated campground.  You may park an RV on your property as long as it has current tags, but no one is supposed to stay in it overnight.

That being said, people do it.  I'm going to live in mine while working on my property (shhhh don't tell).  But I'm in the country, my property is totally bordered by trees, and the property was blighted and is getting better looking the more I work on it, so I don't think I'll have any complaints.

Also, small buildings exempt from code are classified as "acessory structures."  You may have an "accessory structure", such as a shed that is below the square footage minimum (I believe 120 sq ft in my county) to require a permit, but it cannot be used as a dwelling, and is only allowed when there is a primary dwelling unit on the property.  So technically you couldn't buy a piece of land and put only a workshop or barn or garage without a primary dwelling unit on it, unless it is zoned commericial or maybe certain agricultural.

I suppose they make these rules so that people don't try to do something dangerous and live in unsafe dwellings.

Peace,
Ray

[OlJarhead]

Ya becuase you know people they will want someone else to tell that what's safe and all 

Heck, I'm sure it's right after.....oh heck, never mind  

[roadtripray]

OlJarhead,

I know, it's annoying to have liberty restricted by an overbearing government.  It's for that reason that I hate all the zoning ordinances.  To argue the other side, I can see how the government is also the one called on (via 911) when the organic matter strikes the impeller, so the government then has an interest in keeping things safe so they aren't called to pull you from the rubble of a collapsed building or hose down a fire that may not have spread had codes been followed.

So I suppose it's something of a necessary evil that we all deal with.  I will say that the prohibition against using an RV as a dwelling unit isn't enforced.  You can drive through rural areas in the county and tell there are RVs being used for dwellings here and there.  I'm not sure, but I suppose they may not care unless you have neighbors who complain.

Peace,
Ray

[MountainDon]

....they may not care unless you have neighbors who complain.

Exactly, once a complaint comes in, the governing agency has to react and enforce the laws.

We should all remember that these laws act two ways. They can tick us off when we are prevented from using our RV as even a temporary residence while working through a building project.  They can also be your friend when the guy down the road rents out his driveway and someone sets up their old ratty trailer. The neighborhood can go downhill quickly and, IMO, nobody has the right to cause impacts like that.