Best line of the month on a national media story about something in West Texas: “What we don’t want are anarchists or nudists.”
The line came at the end of a piece in The Wall Street Journal intriguingly headlined: “West Texas Town Finds ‘Tiny House’ Crowd a Bit Too Earthy” with a subhead of “Then backs off as eco-first builders propose yurts and straw dwellings.”
The story is about the move made by the small ranching town of Spur east of Lubbock to encourage folks to move there by welcoming, as opposed to frustrating, the tiny house movement in local codes. The story reported that “…talk soon began to surface about plans to build yurts, straw dwellings and even underground dugouts resembling something out of “Lord of the Rings.”
“That was too much for the tradition-minded folks of Spur. In March, the town council hired a building inspector and passed an ordinance that requires designs to be submitted for approval. Spur also stipulated that tiny houses be connected to the electrical grid, water supply and sewer system,” the Journal reports.
“Spur Mayor Steve Bland says the tiny house movement has been a lot to take in for the 107-year-old town,” the story says. “This is new for us. We understand as it grows, we’ll have to grow with it—you can’t stay stuck in your ways—but we want things to go slowly.” So far, Spur has sold 60 abandoned lots for roughly $500 apiece, and about 20 “tiny housers” are expected to be moved in by the end of summer.”
Oh, and it’s Dickens County Commissioner Charlie Morris who said of the tiny housers “They are like a ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy situation. What we don’t want are anarchists or nudists.”
Spur reins in bohemian side (a bit) of tiny house movement it welcomes
Robert Pratt
Best line of the month on a national media story about something in West Texas: “What we don’t want are anarchists or nudists.”
The line came at the end of a piece in The Wall Street Journal intriguingly headlined: “West Texas Town Finds ‘Tiny House’ Crowd a Bit Too Earthy” with a subhead of “Then backs off as eco-first builders propose yurts and straw dwellings.”
The story is about the move made by the small ranching town of Spur east of Lubbock to encourage folks to move there by welcoming, as opposed to frustrating, the tiny house movement in local codes. The story reported that “…talk soon began to surface about plans to build yurts, straw dwellings and even underground dugouts resembling something out of “Lord of the Rings.”
“That was too much for the tradition-minded folks of Spur. In March, the town council hired a building inspector and passed an ordinance that requires designs to be submitted for approval. Spur also stipulated that tiny houses be connected to the electrical grid, water supply and sewer system,” the Journal reports.
“Spur Mayor Steve Bland says the tiny house movement has been a lot to take in for the 107-year-old town,” the story says. “This is new for us. We understand as it grows, we’ll have to grow with it—you can’t stay stuck in your ways—but we want things to go slowly.” So far, Spur has sold 60 abandoned lots for roughly $500 apiece, and about 20 “tiny housers” are expected to be moved in by the end of summer.”
Oh, and it’s Dickens County Commissioner Charlie Morris who said of the tiny housers “They are like a ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy situation. What we don’t want are anarchists or nudists.”