The Tiny House movement has solidified its base in the Pikes Peak region with a second Tiny House Jamboree that brought huge crowds, curious about living small. The first Jamboree last year focused on ‘why’ someone would want to live in dramatically smaller spaces. The 2016 edition focused on ‘how’ to live small.The U.S. Air Force Academy hosted the 2016 Jamboree in August. Almost 45,000 people visited, despite periodic thunderstorms that drove the crowds under vendor canopies and into the tiny homes.Organizers moved the event from the Mining Museum to the Academy during the planning stages of this year’s event when it became clear they needed more space to hold twice as many model homes and vendors. ìWe’ve had a lot more space, better parking facilities, and have been very happy to have moved to the Academy,î said Coles Whalen, spokesman for the Tiny House Jamboree.There have been other changes to the movement over the last year. ìOn a strategic level, the popularity of the movement has grown Ö a few traditional builders have started building tiny houses,î Whalen said. ìBut the biggest challenge moving forward is legal placement. It is very difficult for a tiny house owner to put it where they want to live.îLocal governments are paying attention to the tiny living movement, which means new owners must abide by various laws and regulations.ìI came here with money to buy a tiny house, but hey, I’m being told I can’t legally put it where I want,î said Elizabeth Valsala, an attendee who was drawn to the city of Walsenberg display table after seeing their sign: ìIs your tiny house legal? Come talk!îMany of the attendees asked if they could park their tiny houses in rural areas or agriculturally zoned properties without worrying about codes. ìThere might be one rural county in the state of Colorado that might not have codes at all, and you could get away with it,î said David Roesch, chairman of the planning and zoning commission for the city of Walsenberg. ìAnd down in New Mexico, there’s one community near Taos where you can pretty much do whatever you want.îFor Walsenberg to become tiny-house-friendly, activists had to change their land use codes from within the city government. ìWe had to change code and change zoning requirements,î said Jack Dody, of Abundaculture, who helped with Walsenberg’s zoning changes. ìWe designed it for what we wanted for Walsenberg, including being on a permanent foundation, at least 100 square feet, and built to the International Building Code.îìTiny houses on wheels are more transient, and can pull up stakes and go,î Roesch said. ìAnd there’s places around the country where they’ve done that, so they don’t get a good reputation with local governments.îìFamiliarizing local governments with tiny houses, making it not seem so scary will help,î Whalen said.
