In most localities, tiny houses are too small to meet zoning requirements for residential construction built on a permanent foundation, while living in a wheeled vehicle on residential property can run afoul of anti-camping laws. And even though tiny houses are typically licensed as recreational vehicles, some RV parks won’t accept them and many tiny house owners don’t want to live in RV parks.

“Right now there’s no legal place to park these things without violating zoning laws,” said Stuart-Barstad, an architect by profession.

He and Watson are hoping to solve those issues with Brickmill Meadows and use it as the template for a string of similar developments all over the country.

“If I can do one, hopefully local, I know I can replicate it elsewhere,” Stuart-Barstad said.

But in order to get their first tiny house development built, they’ll need the cooperation of local officials in Monroe, a community of about 600 people in the southern part of Benton County.

“They’re asking for a number of waivers from city standards, and we’ll need to work that out,” City Manager Jim Minard said. “It depends on how flexible the Planning Commission wants to be.”