RENO PROBERT: Beginning next month, people can start applying for permits to build cottage housing in unincorporated Pierce County. N-W-P-B’s Lauren Gallup reports.
LAUREN GALLUP: Pierce County has created new regulations for cottage housing development in the county's residential areas.
This is a type of housing where small homes are clustered around shared open space. 
The county hopes that these types of developments will allow more people to buy homes. 
Lauren Flemister is the deputy director of planning and public works for Pierce County.
LAUREN FLEMISTER: “I think what is really special about cottage housing is how well it aligns with home ownership, that lower cost home ownership.” 
GALLUP: The code says these homes can be up to 12-hundred and fifty square feet in size. 
Flemister says this kind of compact development — where space, resources and parking are shared makes these units less expensive. She estimates that these homes would cost around  450-thousand dollars.
I’m Lauren Gallup, reporting.