Planning & Zoning Commission Considers Stricter Rules on Tiny Homes

The Bald Knob Planning and Zoning Commission is preparing to revisit the city’s ordinance on tiny homes, with an eye toward tightening regulations that would prevent storage sheds from being converted into living spaces.

Currently, the city’s ordinance requires a tiny home to measure at least 500 square feet and to be blocked and underpinned. Commission Chairwoman Dian Steele said those requirements leave too much room for interpretation.

“We want the ordinance to make clear that a tiny home must actually be built or manufactured for residential use—not just a storage shed someone decides to live in,” Steele told the City Council during a recent meeting.

The commission recently turned down a permit request for a structure that had once been a shed. Steele said it lacked basic features such as a driveway, foundation, or proper underpinning. “It really wasn’t a house at all,” she explained.

Because Arkansas leaves much of the decision-making on tiny homes up to individual municipalities, Steele said it’s up to Bald Knob to establish its own set of standards. She hopes the ordinance will be amended to reflect the difference between legitimate tiny houses and storage buildings.

“The way it stands, our ordinance is too vague,” Steele said. “We need to make sure these structures are safe, meet housing expectations, and look like homes—not sheds.”