WACO, Texas (KWTX) – The City of Waco’s Housing and Community Development Department teamed up with Texas State Technical College students for designs and drafts of accessory dwelling units, or ‘tiny houses,’ that the city hopes will help the area’s affordable housing shortage.
The City of Waco recently passed an ordinance that would allow residents to build a second dwelling unit in the back of their property and allow owners to rent out that property for long-term rentals.
Bobby Horner, the Public Information Specialist with City of Waco Development Services, said the size of the second unit is based off of the size of the house that the owner lives in. The main reason for the city to pass this ordinance was to address the affordable housing shortage in the area.
“This allows people to then rent out to somebody that maybe a young couple just get married, they want to find something small to start with…they could rent it out to them as a habitable living space,” he said.
Horner also said the ordinance allows people to build a small house for in-laws, parents, relatives, etc., but it does not allow home owners to use the second unit for short-term rentals like Airbnb’s or Vrbo’s.
Right now, residents who are interested in building a second unit would have to come up with design, drafts, etc. on their own; however, Horner, said the city wanted to make the process easier on residents. So, they partnered with TSTC students to create an array of designs that follow the city’s codes. Because these designs will be pre-approved by the city, residents could then use these designs for their second dwelling unit, saving time and resources.
“If somebody came in and wanted to say, ‘Hey, I like that plan right there. That would work for me.’ And it met the requirements of the ADU ordinance…well, then they would save them money because they wouldn’t have to hire somebody to design something for them,” Horner said. “It saves time so they wouldn’t have to wait on the design. They could go ahead and start the permitting process there.”
He said the owners would have to submit foundation and site plan to make sure the unit fits the parameters, but the process would be quicker overall, according to the city.
The city hopes residents will then rent out these tiny houses for long-term residents for affordable prices.
Horner said that this is the first time a city department has teamed up with a local college to draft and design plans for the community’s housing needs.
TSTC student, John Dawson, said his architecture and design class met with the city, and officials gave them a broad outline of what they wanted for these unit designs.
“Our second meeting went very well,” he said. “I don’t think they really expected us to do what we did. It was really exciting to meet that second meeting and have everybody’s jaw dropped and say, You all are doing phenomenal.”
Horner said students’ results exceeded expectations.
“You could tell that they were really looking at the design, trying to figure it out, thinking it through,” he said. “One of the students even looked at it from the standpoint of an accessory, but also accessible for somebody that may be in a wheelchair and that they could still get around in the house.”
The students’ designs followed the city’s detailed codes, measurements and requirements. Dawson said they then focused on the details, making the designs more appealing.
Dawson said working with the city was a great real-world experience to prepare him for future job opportunities.
“In this project, we really got to see, Okay, ‘Now, what are deadlines? How serious is it to meet those deadlines? We have expectations to meet, so we’ve got to really take that seriously in meeting those for the city of Waco,’” he said.
Now, the city of Waco is going through the details of the plans and hopes to have them available to the public in the next few months.
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