> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.onsiteobserver.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Tiny homes on wheels move closer to becoming legal housing in Sacramento County - URL: https://www.onsiteobserver.com/tiny-homes-on-wheels-move-closer-to-becoming-legal-housing-in-sacramento-county/ - Published: 2026-09-30T19:37:17.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-30T19:37:17.000Z - Author: Vitaliy Moskalenko - Tags: Policy Tiny homes on wheels could become a legal place to live year-round in unincorporated Sacramento County under a proposal that cleared the Planning Commission on Monday, Sept. 28. The commission voted 3-1 to recommend allowing the homes in designated residential and agricultural areas. Commissioner Joseph Devlin cast the opposing vote, and Commissioner Tim Virga was absent. The Board of Supervisors will make the final decision. The proposal would allow wheeled homes measuring 150 to 400 square feet, with their own cooking, sleeping and bathroom facilities. They would have to be licensed and registered with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, undergo third-party safety inspections and connect to approved utilities. Each would also need one off-street parking space, and the homes could not be used as short-term rentals. The homes would be allowed in the county's agricultural (AG-20 through AG-160), agricultural-residential (AR-1 through AR-10), urban reserve (UR), interim agriculture reserve (IR) and low-density residential (RD-1 through RD-10) zones, but not in higher-density residential, commercial or industrial zones. Each parcel would be limited to one wheeled home, except for farmworker housing. The proposal applies only to unincorporated Sacramento County and would not affect incorporated cities. The ordinance also covers tiny homes without wheels. The county would drop its rule that primary homes be at least 20 feet wide, which staff said effectively requires a house of at least 400 square feet. That would open the door to smaller houses on permanent foundations, including single-wide mobile homes. ## Sign up for Onsite Observer Sacramento-region development news: construction projects, permits, commercial real estate, and the local business trends behind them. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. During the hearing, Devlin asked how the wheeled homes would connect to sewer, power and water, and why they would remain on wheels instead of being placed on permanent foundations. He did not explain his opposing vote. "So really the draw with the wheels is the affordability," said Jake Swiech, the county planner overseeing the ordinance. He said a tiny home on wheels costs much less than one built on a permanent foundation. Staff did not give commissioners a purchase-price range or an estimate of what a home would cost once installed. Advertised prices from two California builders offer a starting point. Sacramento-based [Freedom Tiny Homes](https://freedomtinyhomes.org/?ref=onsiteobserver.com) lists base prices from $87,000 to $118,000\. California Tiny House advertises its 160-square-foot [Studio 20 starting at $51,399](https://www.californiatinyhouse.com/tiny-houses/studio-20?ref=onsiteobserver.com) and its 224-square-foot [Studio 28 starting at $77,350](https://www.californiatinyhouse.com/tiny-houses/studio-28?ref=onsiteobserver.com). A buyer's total would depend on what the builder includes, whether land must be purchased, and the cost of delivery, permits, site preparation and utility connections. California Tiny House lists appliances and climate control as optional on both Studio models, while the county's rules would require a kitchen with cooking appliances. Swiech told commissioners that utility connections would be comparable to those for conventional houses, including trenching underground. The goal, he said, is "to make them as permanent as they could possibly be." Nearby jurisdictions already allow similar housing. [Placer County](https://www.placer.ca.gov/9218/Tiny-Homes-in-Placer-County?ref=onsiteobserver.com) approved movable tiny homes in 2022 and updated its rules in February. Its ordinance covers homes on wheeled trailer frames measuring no more than 400 square feet and permits them as primary residences in certain zones, accessory dwelling units and within tiny-home communities. [Nevada County](https://nevadacountyca.gov/4138/Tiny-Homes-on-Wheels?ref=onsiteobserver.com) adopted its ordinance in January 2025, allowing wheeled tiny homes as permanent residences, including primary homes and accessory dwelling units, subject to zoning and permits. Its rules require the homes to retain their wheels and be anchored or otherwise stabilized. Both counties require approved water and sewage service and safety certification. Their ordinances provide a way to establish permanent housing in a towable home without requiring every unit to be converted into a conventional house on a permanent foundation. Across the river, [West Sacramento](https://ecode360.com/43205599?ref=onsiteobserver.com) adopted its ordinance in April 2025\. It also permits wheeled homes as primary residences or accessory dwelling units in designated residential zones. For homeowners considering a backyard unit, that's where Sacramento County's proposal differs. Placer County, Nevada County and West Sacramento all allow wheeled homes as accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, as do San Jose, San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz County, the other jurisdictions county staff reviewed while drafting the ordinance. Sacramento County's proposal would not allow wheeled homes as ADUs. County staff said it is unclear whether state ADU law covers homes that are not attached to a permanent foundation. Instead, a wheeled home could serve as the main house on a lot or as a second home on a property that qualifies under Senate Bill 9, a 2021 state law that lets owners of many single-family lots add a second house without a public hearing. On agricultural and agricultural-residential land, it could also serve as an agricultural accessory dwelling, a separate category under county rules. At Monday's hearing, Michael Turgeon, president of the housing advocacy group House Sacramento, welcomed the proposal as a way to add homes within existing neighborhoods. Turgeon cautioned that making the rules too prescriptive for the sake of neighborhood character could "accidentally undermine the whole thing." Much of the homes' cost advantage, he said, comes from being standardized products built at scale, and requiring custom design work could erode it. The proposed standards include pitched roofs, windows without rounded corners and screening to conceal wheels and towing equipment. Swiech said pitched roofs and squared-off windows were standard on nearly every unit staff reviewed while developing the rules, and that rounded windows are a hallmark of RVs. Supervisors are tentatively scheduled to consider the proposal in November.