Tiny home rules in Yellowstone County, MT — covering tiny houses on wheels (THOWs), park model RVs, and tiny home on foundation builds — determine where they are legal and how they get permitted.
Yellowstone County has no tiny-home ordinance. In the zoning area around Billings, a tiny house on a foundation is a dwelling and must meet the district's setback and lot-size rules; a tiny house on wheels is treated like an RV. Rural unzoned land sets no rule.
The county's Zoning Ordinance does not define "tiny home," so placement follows how the unit is classified. A tiny house built on a permanent foundation is a single-family dwelling and must meet the residential district's minimum yard setbacks (typically 20-foot front, 5-foot side, 5-foot rear), maximum building height (30-40 feet) and minimum district/lot size. A tiny house on wheels is generally treated as a recreational vehicle and is not a permitted permanent dwelling on a residential lot. Montana has adopted the state building code (which recognizes the IRC Appendix on tiny houses) for permitted construction, and any home outside sewer service needs DEQ/RiverStone Health septic approval. On unzoned rural county land the county sets no zoning rule; state code and
Placing a tiny house or RV as a permanent residence in violation of the district rules is a zoning violation handled by Code Enforcement. Building without required state building permits and septic approval carries separate enforcement.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Yellowstone County, MT
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