Hello Dear Tiny Home Supporters! 

After 8 months of not hearing back from the City of Alachua and no response to our correspondence to follow up from our meeting with city officials, yesterday we received a visit from City of Alachua Building Official Tim Hunt, along with a local police officer. He informed us we were being ordered to immediately stop our tiny home Airbnbs, have them vacated the same day, (12 tiny homes on 4 different properties!), and to have them completely removed from the properties in 14 days by a licensed contractor. The consequences for non-compliance: face arrest, criminal charges, and disconnection of utilities to our properties. As this was extremely unexpected, and would be detrimental to our business that we have worked so hard to develop over the past several years, we asked for a reasonable timeline to give us time to appeal his decision with higher ups, or to meet and discuss the issues with the City Manager and come to a reasonable understanding of how to comply with their requests. We were declined any sort of reasonable timeline. 

We have petitioned the State Commissioner Mo Madani to please provide us with a declaratory statement to appeal the decision of the building officer, we have also requested a meeting with City Manager Mike DaRoza to discuss a reasonable solution. 

Below, I will share our story in detail from beginning to end for further context and understanding. We have always been willing to remain open conversation with the City officials, and have always wanted to comply with their codes however we were never given any clarity on what codes to comply with as the city was never willing to define Tiny Homes on Wheels - are they RVs? or are they structures? 

Here is the full story:

Back in 2020 we were approached by our city Code Enforcement Officer, Linelle Stewart, who wrote us up for several code violations based on our tiny home on wheel Airbnbs. These were violations of city level ordinances/codes. Following this violation, we promptly met with Linelle Stewart (Code Enforcement) and Adam Hall (Planning and Development Dept.) to discuss this topic. In that meeting, we discussed the description of an Recreational Vehicle according to the City of Alachua Definitions 10.2

"Recreational vehicle means a transportable structure primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use, which either has its own motor power or is mounted on or drawn by another vehicle. Recreational vehicles, when traveling on the public roadways of the State, must comply with the length and width provisions of F.S. § 316.515. The term "recreational vehicle" shall include motor home, camper bus and travel trailer, camping trailer, truck camper but shall not include pick-up trucks with camper shells that extend one foot or less above the cab of the truck; provided however, for the purposes of Section 6.9.4, Flood prone area standards, means a vehicle, including a park trailer, which is:

1.Built on a single chassis;
2.Four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;
3.Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty truck; and
4.Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use."

And then we discussed Section 4.4.3 which states:

"Use of travel trailer, recreational vehicle or tent as residence. 
The use of a travel trailer, recreational vehicle or tent as a residence, permanent or temporary, is prohibited, with the exception of a trailer approved as a temporary use for security pursuant to Section 4.5, Temporary uses and structures. However, a recreational vehicle (RV) may be used as a temporary residence for up to two weeks, provided the vehicle is located in the driveway or a side or rear yard. Utilization of an RV as a temporary residence is not considered as storage."

We then discussed the reference of using a travel trailer as a temporary residence for up to 2 weeks at a time, pointing out that the code does not specify the duration of time in between those 2 weeks, ie. it does not specify 2 weeks per year? 2 weeks per month? a consecutive 2 weeks at a time? And therefore our interpretation was that no single person could stay in a travel trailer for longer than 2 weeks at one given time. 

Linelle and Adam both agreed this was not clear and informed us that they would look further into it. At the conclusion of this meeting, Linelle advised us she would follow up with us, which she did. During her follow up call, she advised us that she would not be enforcing the code violation penalty and that in order to continue running our AirBnB rentals in our tiny homes on wheels we should apply for a transient lodging license with the DBPR as well as create accounts with Alachua County to pay tourists taxes. We complied with both of her requests and we took this as allowance to continue our Airbnb rentals in our tiny homes.

Around the same time as this meeting, Alachua City Building Official, Keith Bennett, came to our property to inspect a front porch. While there, he took an informal look at our tiny homes, he said "those are on wheels, not my jurisdiction", confirming what we interpreted about them being considered as RV/Travel Trailers. He also took a look at our electrical, water, and sewage connections to the tiny homes on wheels which he confirmed were considered "temporary hook ups", just like an RV. (Keith no longer works for the City of Alachua to our knowledge.)

From that point, we expanded our small business, making it our full time jobs. We partnered with multiple other property owners within the city to put tiny homes on wheels on their properties as Airbnb rentals, and we created a very successful and well loved business by both locals and travellers. We have hosted tens of thousands of guests in our rentals, maintain high ratings on Airbnb, gained a social media following, and attracted people from all over to come visit our tiny home Airbnbs. We support small and big local businesses from the local coffee shop to the local Lowe's. We have also had several news articles (Dwell, Gainesville Sun, Trip 101, Trips to Discover) written about our tiny homes online that praise our Airbnbs and the wonderful, unique experience we offer to our guests. These tiny home Airbnbs became our livelihood that pays our bills and supports our family. We also are able to employ local citizens with jobs as cleaners for the tiny homes, etc to support other local families as well. We partnered with several local businesses to promote their products and services, advertise for local businesses to our guests, and truly created a community experience with our tiny home Airbnbs.

Two years later, in the beginning of 2022, Linelle Stewart (Code Enforcement) arrived at our front door with a new Building Official (of whose name I am forgetting). They informed us at this time that we were being given a verbal warning with 30 days to remove our tiny homes on wheels from our property, citing that they did not comply with IRC Building Code Appendix Q and they are considered structures (not RVs). We requested to meet with the City Manager, Mike DaRoza. At this time, he was able to call a meeting with all related city officials that we had previously met with and more. At this meeting we presented to them the same information we are presenting to you here, with the same links and references that are in this email. At this time, we had started a petition for our supporters to sign to help us to convince the city to let us keep our tiny home Airbnbs, showing that we are well supported in what we do and benefit both locals and travellers as well as local businesses and the city itself by supporting and growing local tourism.

In this meeting, we all discussed the IRC Building Code Appendix Q, which at this time (now approximately 8 months ago), did not include or apply to tiny homes on wheels. We had reached out to the Tiny Home Industry Association President, Dan Fitzpatrick, and other THIA  advisors, Brad Wiseman and Shorty Robbins, for insight and understanding on their interpretation of Appendix Q to which they confirmed that it seems to be intended for foundation based housing under 400 sq ft, and that it neither includes nor eliminates the option of a foundation on a trailer or chassis, and so if a city adopts the code at a local level and then amends it to include wheels, it would then apply to us. To our knowledge, the City of Alachua had not amended Appendix Q to include wheels at that time. 

During this meeting with the city officials we also presented an example of Brevard County's Article X- Tiny Houses on Wheels which we said was a nice, clear, and understandable code to follow, which we suggested the city adopt something similar that works for them, which we could then comply with. We also presented Mike DaRoza with information about NOAH RDI and their accreditation.  We told him that this is a company that can inspect our tiny homes and certify that they were built up to ANSI 119.5 code, NFPA 1192 and NFPA 70(NEC). We made it clear we wanted to comply with their concerns and to please give us instructions for how to do so. We asked at this time for a resolution for how to move forward, as well as something in writing, to which we were denied any written response or resolution. 

A few days later, Ms. Stewart gave us a call to inform us that there would be no code enforcement action taken against us at this time, and that Mr. DaRoza would be in contact. Shortly after, we received a letter in the mail from Mr. DaRoza requesting us to write out a clear definition and use of the units in question. We informed him that to our best understanding and comprehension of City of Alachua code book, they fit the description of an RV/Travel Trailer. He responded to our email with another letter requesting the same question to be answered again, to which we clarified our answer and repeated it that once again we believe them to fall under the definition of an RV/Travel Trailer and that is the closest definition in our city code book that we see that relates to the units, unless the city chooses to define Tiny Houses on Wheels specifically.

After responding to his last letter, we received no response from any city official since March of 2022 (no response via email, phone, or letter). Then, on October 11, 2022, a new building official (different from the last 2 that were referenced in this email), named Tim Hunt arrived at our property with a local law enforcement officer and a representative from the DBPR. He informed us that he is issuing a stop action on our Airbnbs effective immediately to which he threatens that if any guests occupy the premises this same day, he will return and disconnect our utilities, as well as arrest us and press criminal charges against us. He informs us that we have 14 days to remove all 12 structures from 4 different properties and have them disconnected by a licensed contractor (with permits pulled) or face consequences. We explained to him that this is unreasonable and unexpected and it is our business and livelihood and that it would be impossible or detrimental to our business and livelihood to immediately dissolve our entire business without any time to prepare or to make arrangements. He was unwilling to provide any compromise on his time frame, nor did he provide any instructions for how to remedy the violations. He advised us that our only route was to petition for a declaratory statement from Mr. Mo Madani, state commissioner, to request an extension or appeal the decision he has made. 

Immediately, we called his office but were informed he was out of town for meetings and would not be available until Monday. We were then transferred to Robert Lorenzo, who gave us a little more understanding of the jurisdiction of the state vs local level, and gave us an alternative number to try and reach Mr. Madani. We had sent an email as well as a voicemail, however, understandably, we did not receive a response. We then informed Tim Hunt that it was not a reasonable request to comply in a single day, as no one was available to advise us how to move forward. He then directed us to contact the City Attorney, Marian Rush. Upon calling her contact number we were informed she was out of office for surgery with no clear return date, and we were directed to go to City Hall.

At City Hall, we asked to speak to anyone that could advise us on the situation of how to move forward or to help us understand the document Mr. Hunt served us. At this point Mr. Hunt was no longer answering any of our attempts to reach him. We were told Mike DaRoza, Adam Hall, Linelle Stewart, Kathy Winburn, and Tim Hunt were all unavailable to speak to us. We waited in the office for approximately 2-3 hours with no response via phone or in person by any city official. As you can see, we made good faith to attempt to comply with Mr. Hunts immediate order, however, no one was immediately available to speak to us. 

I then wrote a petition to Mr. Madani. My understanding is that his position is to write a declaratory statement of interpretation of the state statutes that Mr. Hunt was referring to in his Building Code Violation to us.

I am pleased to point out that since our last meeting with our city officials, we have discovered that the ICC have amended Appendix Q, now referred to as Appendix AQ, to include tiny homes on wheels. I am therefore requesting that Mr. Tim Hunt's order to remove all my structures from my properties and friends/families properties he also visited, listed on the violation order, be appealed and instead I would like to have the opportunity to pull the appropriate permits (as well as be advised by my city officials what those permits are), in order to have my structures and connections inspected. I am requesting that should my structures comply with Appendix AQ, I will be allowed to keep the structures and use them as Airbnbs or short term rentals, in accordance with any local ordinances that might apply once they have passed building inspections. I am also requesting a reasonable time frame to get this done, considering the schedule of the building officials, the fact that there are 12 structures in question, as well as 4 different properties.

We have also reached out and spoken to THIA members Dan Fitzpatrick and Brad Wiseman and spoken in depth about the developing building codes regarding tiny homes on wheels that have just been developed in recent months. We are excited for the new clarity on how to comply with state and city building codes to keep tiny houses on wheels as permanent dwellings, accessory dwellings, or as RVs depending on what codes they are inspected under. 

Additionally we have sent an application to the Institute for Justice, who have quality attorneys specializing in property rights and human rights to fight against governmental bodies in circumstances like ours. They have recently represented a few tiny home cases in nearby states, and we hope they will take our case! 

We share this information with you for complete transparency about our journey!!

THANK YOU for your ongoing support. Please continue to sign and share our petition to save our tiny homes on wheels. We are eager to comply with the City Officials given that we are treated in a reasonable way to preserve our business and able to continue serving our community through our tiny home business. 

In addition to signing the petition, you can help by emailing and calling Mr. Mike DaRoza, City Manager, at mdaroza@cityofalachua.org or at his office phone number, (386) 418-6100, and expressing your support and love of our business, Simplify Further Tiny Homes.