HOWELL – One resident believes the “tiny house movement” would help Howell provide homes for individuals who have a low or moderate income and help the municipality meet its state mandated obligation to provide opportunities for the development of affordable housing.
The tiny house movement is a social movement in which people live in a small space due to environmental concerns and/or financial concerns.
According to thetinylife.com, a typical American home is about 2,600 square feet and a typical small or tiny house is between 100 and 400 square feet.
Resident Elaine Taylor addressed the matter during a Sept. 26 meeting of the Township Council. She said she wanted to “remind everyone of the importance of the tiny house movement.”
“(In) talking about affordable housing in Howell, I think it is important that we at least think about (tiny houses) and talk about it, and maybe get together with (Steve Brigham, a local minister) and see what he has to say on the subject and make it real affordable housing for people through the tiny house movement,” Taylor said.
Brigham has been an ordained minister since 2002 with the Lakewood Outreach Ministry, a non-denominational Christian church. In recent years he has devoted time and effort to assist individuals who do not have permanent housing.
Brigham has said, “Housing costs are just so expensive and really they do not need to be that way … there is plenty of property and land in the area.
“If we could just build smaller houses on smaller pieces of property, change the regulations, zoning laws and building codes, and lessen those government regulations, we could have smaller houses.
“…There is no excuse for not creating smaller houses that people could afford at lower wage jobs. It is just political will or stubbornness of the society or whatever.
“Some people do not want their property values to go down,” Brigham said. “If you try to put something somewhere that is close to a development, people are always concerned about their financial agenda, which is fine if you are concerned about your financial agenda, but you have to prioritize people’s basic human rights.”