In an effort to encourage more housing, Huntsville’s General Committee approved a pilot project to facilitate the construction of secondary dwelling units.
At the June 25, 2025, meeting, staff presented a report noting that the pilot would provide interested members of the public with pre-approved building permit drawings by different qualified designers and pre-manufactured homes for Secondary Residential Dwelling Unit (SRDU) plans.
No more than $100,000 will be set aside from the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) reserve in order to fund the initial cost of the drawings, explained staff in a report to committee.
Based on the experience of other municipalities that have tried to implement similar programs, the staff report notes that “To truly make the process more accessible and effective for homeowners, we propose offering a complete start-to-finish package that includes not only pre-approved designs but also all necessary building permit documentation. This approach removes many of the technical and bureaucratic
barriers that often discourage homeowners from pursuing construction projects. This package would
include full permit drawings, namely: elevations, structural, heating, plumbing, and electrical details.”
Kirstin Maxwell, Huntsville Director of Planning Services, described the project’s impetus as one that would simplify the process of creating a secondary residential unit for homeowners, saving them time and money.
The report also notes that “At this time staff are proposing that the initial cost of the drawings be funded fully at the Town’s expense, with only the royalty/usage fee being paid by the homeowner. This approach would save a homeowner anywhere from $6,000 – $10,000 per design.”
The intent is to provide a total of six designs ranging from:
- 250 square feet to 400 square feet for tiny homes,
- 600 to 800 square feet for larger accommodations
- And 600 to 800 square feet for the construction options above a garage.
“As these units are SRDUs, no development charges apply. Building permit costs for the structures
are based on $11/$1,000 of construction value, with a minimum fee of $150.00. It is anticipated that
the range of price for a building permit would therefore be anywhere from $1,925.00 to upwards of
$4,400.00,” states the report.
Maxwell told the committee that she is hoping the program will launch in January 2026, and some marketing dollars will be set aside to promote the project.
“This is exciting,” said Councillor Bob Stone. “I really think this is going to be a win for us for housing. You are exactly right when you say we’ve got to communicate really well to the public because I think there’s a lot of people out there that think it’s too big of a task to put a secondary dwelling on their property, even though they can, so we’re taking a whole lot of cost and having the design ready and helping them through the permit stage. I think it’s going to be a real win.”
You can find the staff report HERE.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
She added that staff expect to have the permit packages ready for launching to the public by this January.
Councillor, Bob Stone, said “I really think this will be a win for housing for the community,” which matched the overall enthusiasm of fellow Committee members.
Does this really do much to help the housing issues here? When if you take a drive around town there are 100s of huge single family homes going up or planned and very few affordable units….