Tiny home rules in Lehigh County, PA — 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.
Allentown zoning has no tiny-home category. A permanent tiny house must meet minimum habitable floor areas (no new efficiency units) and PA building code. A tiny home on wheels is treated as a manufactured/mobile home, allowed only in a licensed manufactured-home park.
Lehigh County does not zone, so Allentown's Zoning Ordinance controls. Permanent dwellings must meet the minimum habitable floor areas in §1315.05.GG (one unit at least 700 square feet; one-bedroom 500; two-bedroom 700) and 'no new efficiency dwelling units shall be permitted,' which effectively bars sub-minimum tiny houses as standalone dwellings. A movable tiny home on a trailer meets the ordinance definition of a manufactured/mobile home and may only be placed in a licensed manufactured/mobile-home park, where each unit must sit 20 feet from other units and 35 feet from exterior lot lines. All permanent construction must comply with the statewide PA Uniform Construction Code.
Occupying a tiny home outside an approved district or park is a zoning violation; the city can order removal and assess daily penalties.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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