Tiny home rules in Ada County, ID — 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.
Ada County's zoning code treats a tiny home as a manufactured home. A tiny home used as a second unit must meet the secondary-dwelling standards of Section 8-4-23 (350 to 1,200 sq ft, foundation, deed restriction). A tiny home on wheels is a recreational vehicle, not a permanent dwelling.
Ada County Code Title 8 defines a Manufactured Home as a structure built on a permanent chassis and designed for use as a dwelling, and states 'This includes Tiny Homes and Park Models,' while excluding recreational vehicles. A tiny home placed as a second unit on a lot is regulated as a secondary dwelling under Section 8-4-23: it must be 350 to 1,200 square feet, sit on a foundation, have separate kitchen and bath, its own address, and a recorded deed restriction, on a lot of at least 6,000 square feet. A movable tiny home on wheels is a recreational vehicle and cannot be occupied as a permanent residence outside an approved RV park. City limits follow city code.
Placing or living in a tiny home that does not meet the manufactured-home/secondary-dwelling standards is a zoning violation enforced by Ada County Development Services.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Ada County has no ordinance banning backyard composting. Home compost piles are allowed, but they must not become a nuisance, attract rodents or vermin, or c...
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Ada County has no ordinance banning or specifically regulating residential artificial turf. Installation on private property is generally allowed; check drai...
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Ada County does not require any particular landscape plants and does not ban native or xeric plantings. As long as growth is not an overgrown-weed nuisance o...
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Ada County has no ordinance banning rooftop rainwater collection. Under Idaho water law, capturing rain and snowmelt from your own roof for use on your prope...
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Ada County itself sets no residential watering schedule. In the Treasure Valley, outdoor irrigation typically comes from irrigation districts (Nampa-Meridian...
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Ada County declares overgrown weeds and grasses a public nuisance when they create a fire, safety or health hazard, or interfere with neighbors' use of their...
See how Ada County's tiny homes rules stack up against other locations.
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