Tiny Home Parks

A. The Planning Board shall review the proposal in order to determine the suitability of the site and the adequacy of the design and arrangement of lots, streets, walkways, streetlighting, recreation, and parking facilities, landscaping, and utilities. The Planning Board will also review operations and maintenance plans for the park as part of its review.
B. In any district, tiny home parks may also be allowed as part of a redevelopment of existing mobile home parks, subject to the requirements in § 165-139 below.

§ 165-139 Development requirements.

Tiny home parks and expansions thereof shall conform to the following minimum requirements:

A. A tiny home park shall be located on a single parcel of land having a sufficient overall area to accommodate, in addition to the individual lots, all road rights-of-way and all buffer strips, open space, and other areas required under this chapter or under any other applicable law, rule or regulation.

B. Dimensional requirements.
(1) Each individual tiny home lot or lease area shall not be less than 1,000 square feet in area.
(2) The lot area of the tiny home park in the following districts shall be as follows:
(a) Low-Density Residential District (LDR) shall have a minimum 12,000 SF lot.
(b) High-Density Residential District (HDR) shall have a minimum 8,000 SF lot.
(c) Rural Residence and Agriculture (RR& A) shall have a minimum 1 1/ 2 acre lot.
(3) All homes in the tiny home park shall be set back from existing streets at the same minimum distance required for the front yard setback in the underlying zone. The setback for the underlying zone for side and rear setbacks shall also apply to the park boundary.
(4) No tiny home shall be located less than five feet from the front, side and rear lines of an individual lot or lease area, and there shall be a minimum distance of 10 feet between adjacent tiny homes.
(5) No structures may exceed the height requirements of the underlying zone of the park.
(6) Unless otherwise outlined herein, no other dimensional requirements of the underlying zone shall apply to a tiny home park.
(7) If leased, no lease for a tiny home shall be less than 30 days.

C. Streets, walks and parking,
(1) All tiny home parks shall be provided with safe and convenient vehicular access from abutting public streets or roads to the park. All streets within the park shall have a minimum right-of-way width of 30 feet. Pavement width shall be no less than 24 feet where parking is permitted on both sides of the street. Where parking is permitted on only one side of a street, the minimum pavement width shall be 21 feet, and where all on-street parking is prohibited, the minimum pavement width shall be 20 feet.
(2) All streets within a tiny home park shall have a sidewalk on one side of the street, meeting minimum standards as established by the City Engineer.
(3) Dead-end streets shall be limited in length to 1,000 feet and at the closed end shall be provided with a turnaround having a minimum radius of 50 feet. The Planning Board may allow an optional turnaround design subject to review by the Fire Department.
(4) Required parking spaces may be provided on the tiny home lot or within the park boundary as approved by the Planning Board.
(5) The Planning Board, upon review, may waive or otherwise alter the minimum number of required parking spaces if there is ample bicycle parking/storage or if the park is within 1/3 mile walking distance to a bus route at the time of application.

D. Landscaping.
(1) Where possible, existing trees shall be preserved, and tiny homes shall be oriented with respect to scenic vistas, natural landscape features, topography and natural drainage areas.
(2) Screen planting, subject to review by the Planning Board, shall be provided around the boundaries of the park and garbage and trash collection stations. Screens shall consist of shrubs or trees at least five feet wide and, at the time of planting, at least four feet in height and eventually reaching a mature height of at least 10 feet. Street tree planting (Buffer E) shall occur along the boundary adjacent to the street providing access to the park.

E. Recreation areas shall be provided for the use of occupants of the tiny home park. The size of such areas shall be a minimum of 10% of the area of the park. The location of such facilities shall be approved by the Planning Board.

F. All transformer boxes, substations, pumping stations and meters shall be located and designed so as not to be unsightly or hazardous to the public.

§ 165-140 Utilities and accessory structures.

A. Water supply. An accessible, adequate, safe and potable supply of water shall be provided to each tiny home. Where a public water supply is available, connection to such system shall be required and its supply used exclusively. When a public water supply is not available, a private water supply may be developed and used subject to approval by the City Engineer and the State Department of Health and Human Services.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

B. Sewage disposal.
(1) Sewage disposal systems shall comply with all State of Maine laws, the State Plumbing Code and local codes and ordinances.
(2) Any tiny home park located within 1,000 feet of an existing public sewer shall be required to provide a sewer system for the park designed by a registered engineer to connect to the existing public sewer and to connect to such sewer.
(3) Septic sewage disposal systems for individual tiny homes in a tiny home park shall be prohibited.
(4) If public sewer is unavailable, a subsurface wastewater system shall be designed in accordance with the State of Maine Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules. Maintenance of such a facility shall be provided by the owner of the park or as part of a homeowners’ association as approved by the City Solicitor and the City Engineer.
(5) Design of all sewer facilities shall require approval of the City Engineer.

C.Refuse disposal. The storage, collection and disposal of refuse in the tiny home park shall be so conducted as to create no health hazards, rodent harborage, insect breeding areas, accident or fire hazards or air pollution.

D. Accessory structures. The following requirements shall apply to any accessory structures located on the park property as accessory to the park. For the purpose of this article, an “accessory structure” in a tiny home park is a detached, subordinate structure, the use of which, in the opinion of the Planning Board, is clearly incidental and normal to the tiny home park development. The accessory structure shall:
(1) Not exceed 400 square feet in area.
(2) Be located not less than 10 feet from the street right-of-way, not less than 10 feet from a rear lot line and not less than five feet from a side lot line of the tiny home park.
(3) Be located not less than five feet from any tiny home or any other accessory structure.
(4) Height shall not exceed the requirements of the underlying zone.
(5) Have a foundation that conforms to the Building Code of the City of Bangor.
(6) Not obstruct required openings for light and ventilation of the tiny home nor prevent inspection of any tiny home equipment or utility connection.

E. Attached structures. The following requirements shall apply to any extensions to tiny homes, such as porches, porticoes and decks. Such attached structures shall:
(1) Meet all yard setback requirements for the tiny home as enumerated in this chapter.
(2) Not be used for the storage of motor vehicles.
(3) Not be extended to less than 10 feet from any other tiny home.
(4) Not exceed 200 square feet in area.