Schulenburg Says Tiny Homes Are OK in Some Areas of Town

The City of Schulenburg amended its zoning ordinance to allow certain types of alternative housing known as “tiny homes” or “cottage homes.”

These types of homes offer an affordable option at a time when local real estate prices are booming. The amendment renamed the previous R-5 Manufactured Home District to “Manufactured Home and Alternative Residential Housing.”

“Tiny homes” will be limited to the R-5 district. However, property owners in other parts of town may apply to rezone their property to R-5 through the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

Schulenburg City Council voted unanimously to approve the amendment at their meeting Monday night, May 15. The amendment defines “alternative housing units” as those with a minimum of 300 square feet of living space and a maximum of 1,200 sq. ft. including outdoor or screened porches. Kitchens and bathrooms must be at least 70 sq. ft. The living area’s floor area must be at least 120 sq. ft. Ceilings must be at least seven feet tall. The units must have a “toilet, water closet, tub or shower” and all water must be supplied through an approved piping system and an approved water supply. The homes must be affixed to a permanent foundation.

Lot sizes for alternative homes must be a minimum of 1,400 sq. ft. with a width of at least 40 feet. The minimum lot size in other parts of town is 6,000 square feet. Homes constructed under the alternative housing provision must meet the City’s other building code requirements.

The ordinance prohibits certain structures such as silos, boilers, tanks, shipping containers, boats, buses or aircraft from being converted into homes.

City staffer Megan Bartos, who helped to develop the amendment, said the City began considering the amendment several years ago after a resident asked about converting a grain silo into a residential structure.

“That’s how it got started,” Bartos said. “Then someone wanted to bring in a whole bunch of tiny homes and put them on a lot.”

She said another resident asked about building a small “mother-in-law” cottage on their property.

“In the last year or two, we had a lot of questions coming in, and we didn’t have anything in our ordinance to address it.”

The Schulenburg Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on the amendment before the City Council meeting on Monday. Schulenburg property owner Chad Zimmermann called the amendment a “step in the right direction.” However, he criticized the City’s zoning regulations as “divisive” and antifree market.

“I’d like to see the R-5 district go away. It looks like segregation to me. You look at the map and it’s clearly Sandtown,” Zimmermann said, referring to the predominately African-American neighborhood in the southwest corner of Schulenburg, which encompasses most of the R-5 district.

“Zoning is inherently anti-American and we should do away with all of it,” he said. “I would like to see alternative housing everywhere.”

Zimmermann addressed the issue again during the regular City Council meeting that followed.

“R-5 is just Sandtown,” he said. “It’s like you’re saying, ‘You can do whatever you want over there, but over here, we’ve got to keep it looking a certain way.’ It’s divisive. We need to open it up and get rid of all zoning. We need to lower that bar of entry into homeownership and rental ownership so people can develop their land around here, and not make it so expensive so the working man can’t get into that business.

“We need to open it up to the free market and let it do what it does,” Zimmermann added. “We need to move forward and let Americans do American things.”

Also at Monday’s meeting, Schulenburg resident Jeremy Baumgarten spoke during the public comment period about his ongoing dispute with The Texan Travel Center over loud noise. Baumgarten lives in the neighborhood to the west of The Texan. He noted that section 6.13 City zoning regulations require businesses to erect a fence to screen neighboring residential lots from adverse influence such as noise and lights. There is a “partial” fence on the property, he said, but it does not adequately screen out noise and light from the business.

“After months of the truck stop being in operation, the required fence has not been constructed,” Baungarten said.

He invited the City Council members to his property to experience the nuisance. “It is not a standard occurrence for 20 or more semis to be parked near my home on any given evening at The Texan,” Baumgarten said. “The noise, trash, and presence of any number of unknown people being generated by these semis have reduced my family’s ability to enjoy our home, inside and out.”

State law prohibits the City Council from deliberating on items that are not part of the regular agenda. Accordingly, the Council could not respond to Baumgarten’s complaint. Baumgarten told the Record that he will petition the City to place an item on a future meeting agenda regarding his complaint.

Last Monday’s meeting was the first for newly-elected Mayor Connie Koopmann and councilmen Scott Stoner and Frank “Butch” Wick III. Wick takes the place of Wendy Fietsam, who did not run for reelection. Stoner won a special election to take the seat formerly held by his father, Howard Stoner, who died in office earlier this year.