Tiny homes for seniors proposed for affordable housing community
LONDON: A council is reviewing a proposal to incorporate tiny homes into an affordable housing community, meant to help those with lower incomes and seniors afford to live independently.
The proposal for 276 units is at the corner of Rome and Decatur Road. The proposal by Ovation Development has apartment buildings that span two, three to four stories, and several dozen tiny homes; the tiny homes are roughly 400 square feet each.
Tiny homes have been a popular option in recent years among renters, homeowners and developers, hoping to seek affordable options amid rising construction costs and rising rent and housing prices.
According to the Nevada Housing Coalition, the state lacks 85,000 units for those with extremely low incomes; 25,000 of those people are seniors.
A spokesperson for Ovation Development said the proposal was initially for all ages, but after residents voiced concerns over neighborhood crowding, traffic and crime modified the proposal to a possible 55+ community, and are removing three-bedroom options from the apartments.
“People who would have lived here would have been starting teachers, starting police officers, they would have been starting firemen… as a community, what we should be talking about is how we can solve that problem,” a spokesperson said to the Planning committee on September 13.
Neighbors voiced various concerns to city officials.
“I feel like tiny houses are trashy, they’re gonna look like a trailer park. They don’t have washers, dryers,” neighbors said.
“When you get over 100 units, you’re looking at increased crime,” another neighbor said.
The City Council will review the proposal on Oct. 19.
