As West Sacramento senior planner Daniel Berumen (left) listens, resident and tiny home on wheels advocate Robin Davis delivers remarks to the City Council at the April 9 City Council meeting. Photo courtesy of the City of West Sacramento.

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) – Since October 2020, Robin Davis has begun her regular public comments at City Council meetings by introducing herself as a resident who lives in her “160-square-foot, semi-off-grid tiny home on wheels on my undeveloped residential property here in West Sacramento.”

Davis has tirelessly advocated for zoning guidelines to allow these small units to be considered affordable dwelling options. She and her supporters working with city staff took a step closer to reality at the April 9 council meeting as council members voted 5-0 to pass the first reading of Ordinance 24-9 that would change municipal codes to treat tiny homes on wheels as “legal dwellings.”

“We are not just making a decision for our city,” Davis said before the vote. “We have a powerful opportunity to lead by example and set the tone for the entire region.”

West Sacramento senior planner Daniel Berumen told the council that tiny homes, typically 399 square feet or smaller, are already allowed under city codes as primary dwelling or accessory dwelling units (ADU). Tiny homes on wheels are a variant of these that are mounted on a chassis with wheels, have RV-style hookups, considered trailers by the Department of Motor Vehicles and therefore not subject to city building codes or counting toward the city’s housing production goals.

“They can be towable but they can’t be moved under their own power,” Berumen said.

Ordinance 24-9 changes that by making tiny homes on wheels subject to building codes and permitting processes all other residential units adhere to along with several supplemental regulations. Key among those regulations are requirements to be hooked up to city utilities, resemble a residential structure rather than a recreational vehicle, be installed on a pad with skirting that hides the undercarriage and receive administrative approval from the Community Development Department.

“Once that approval letter is issued, then it goes through a permitting process just like every other residential unit would,” Community Development director Andrea Ouse said.

Tiny homes on wheels would be allowed in all residential zones, except R-3 high-density residential. They would have a separate address with issuance of the electrical permit, have a bathroom, kitchen and sleeping area, be only one story and have a minimum of two means of egress.

The ordinance passed the city’s Planning Commission on Oct. 17, 2024, by a 3-2 vote. Councilwoman Quirina Orozco asked what the concerns were of the two members voting no.

Berumen said those were mainly about appearance and design, along with utility connections, and that the city tried to mitigate those concerns through making ordinance language clear regarding those standards.

Standards being adopted by the city of West Sacramento require tiny homes on wheels to resemble more common stick-built residential structures than recreational vehicles. Photo courtesy of City of West Sacramento.

Mayor Martha Guerrero asked about costs to the homeowner during the permitting process, noting she received an email from a resident complaining the process had cost him more than $24,000 for construction of an ADU. Berumen and Ouse said that those costs could be expensive but were being reviewed by staff in the process to update the city’s Book of Fees.

City Manager Aaron Laurel said that effort was part of a larger process to adjust all fees and that city staff have the ability to provide an assessment of the type and amount of fees someone wishing to build a structure in the city would face. He encouraged residents to contact staff before getting too far down the design road.

Several residents provided comment during the public hearing portion of the process, including local attorney Kimber Goddard, who said he was initially against the ordinance.

“Then I met Robin, one of the finest advocates I’ve ever seen,” Goddard said, adding she and others changed his mind.

Tiny home on wheels advocate Andrea Montana said, “Our goal is to clear a pathway for application to approval for occupancy while safeguarding the integrity of our public lands and resources.”

Final ordinance approval will take place at an upcoming council meeting.