Riverside County, CA Accessory Structures: Tiny Homes (2026)

314 of the Riverside County Code, added in 2021, sets the standards for tiny homes (detached, single-household dwellings built to resemble a house) and residential shipping containers (converted 20-by-8 or 40-by-8 steel containers) in the unincorporated county. 030(A) makes both uses allowed by right in the R-7 and MU zone classifications and in any zoning classification that already permits one-family dwellings or accessory dwelling units, though a plot plan is required next to a National Register historic property, and both uses are barred where water, sewage or health and safety constraints exist or a development moratorium is in effect.

070's development standards require a minimum 1,500-square-foot lot, a 25-foot maximum height, and side and rear setbacks of at least 5 feet, with no required front setback except for off-street parking. A tiny home is capped at 500 square feet excluding patios, porches and garages, and a split-level tiny home needs at least 150 square feet of first-floor living space; a residential shipping container, which may combine multiple containers, tops out at 1,200 square feet. 050 requires a tiny home to sit on a concrete slab foundation, while a shipping container can use a pier, slab, piling or platform foundation. 070. 060.