Tiny-home owner who says Meridian forced her into homelessness gets her day in court

After 1-1/2 years, a woman ousted by the city of Meridian from her tiny home on wheels on a homeowner’s property is getting her day in court.

In 2022, Chasidy Decker, a native Treasure Valley resident, was effectively evicted from her tiny home, which she owns, by Meridian Code Enforcement.

At the time, Decker was renting space next to a private residence to park the tiny home, which has wheels and can be towed from place to place. She didn’t realize that living in her home — while paying rent to her landlord, who lived in the home next door, and utilities — was against Meridian law.

Decker’s lawyers with the Institute for Justice expected to argue her case before an Ada County judge on Thursday. Decker’s lawsuit said Meridian’s ordinance against residing in tiny homes is unconstitutional and that a Meridian code-enforcement officer violated Decker’s free-speech rights when he retaliate against her after she spoke to the Idaho Statesman for a story in June 2022.

In a news release, the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm that fights what it calls government overreach, argued that the Idaho Constitution requires that all laws “have a legitimate government interest, but Meridian’s ban has none.”

“Chasidy’s home is perfectly safe, which Meridian conceded when they encouraged her to move it to an RV park to live in,” the law firm said in the release. “The city also can’t argue that her home would somehow affect the appearance of the neighborhood, since it’s perfectly legal to keep her tiny home where it’s parked — she just can’t live in it.”

Meridian allows single-family homes to have secondary dwelling units as accessories to the main home. In Decker’s case, her tiny home is her main home.

The Institute for Justice said Meridian Code Enforcement threatened Decker and her landlord, Robert Calacal, with fines and jail time if Decker didn’t leave the home.

Without any place to move it, Decker ended up sleeping on a friend’s couch. Decker told the Statesman in 2022 that she had heard that all RV parks in the Treasure Valley were either at full capacity or did not allow tiny homes.

“I own a home, and I am homeless,” Decker said then.

In an emailed statement, Meridian spokesperson Stephany Galbreaith said, “we are confident that the court will see and agree that the city of Meridian and its laws regarding housing are consistent and constitutional as required. We understand Ms. Decker’s position, but believe that our laws are applied appropriately to protect everyone and every neighborhood.”

The hearing was set to begin at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Ada County Courthouse.

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