PORTLAND, Ore. -- Housing officials, architecture buffs, builders and dozens of tiny house enthusiasts alike descended on Portland State University’s campus Friday morning for a national conference on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and tiny homes.
And for the first time, attendees learned of loosening restrictions surrounding living small.
“It's a lot to keep up on,” said Nick Pereyra, of Salem-based Tiny Mountain Houses. “With all the new laws and things they've changed, it's definitely added a lot more positivity, happiness, excitement.”
Pereyra and others pointed specifically to City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s decision last month to stop enforcing codes which prohibit RVs and tiny homes on wheels, which are in the same legal category, on private property.
Industry experts also explained the city’s continued waiving of development fees for ADUs, a program that’s set to run through July.
“In Portland, I think we consider ourselves a leader,” said Margarette Leite, associate professor of architecture at PSU.
Builders, meanwhile, pointed out changes aren’t just coming on the municipal level.
Old-school RV parks, they say, have largely resisted housing tiny homes, but that’s also starting to change.
Owners of Tall Firs Mobile Home and RV Park on Southeast Division Street admitted their first tiny house a few months ago.
The owner of the tiny home, Phil Hoffman, said the turning tide is a welcome change.
“It does give me hope, but I knew it would happen,” he said. “This is too practical an idea to dismiss it.”
While Friday's event is over, there is another exposition scheduled for Saturday, Nov.11, and Sunday, Nov. 12, at the Oregon Convention Center.