Joe,
I am currently building a tire bale home in Kansas. My experience is unique as the county within which we are building does not have building codes... only septic requirements and standard offsets for where the home can be on the property. This is very unique and took me years (and a good amount of luck) to find such a lenient location. For you, I would guess, that it likely will all depend upon the local codes and the individuals within the zoning committee and if they are open minded wanting to help people or are code wonks looking to say no as often as possible.
My experience showed me that talking directly to the zoning committee about what I was hoping to do was the best way to assess the situation and how to move forward as soon as possible. Also, most zoning codes have a process to apply for variances. If they say that a tire bale build is not allowed you can ask if they have a variance application process.
On a side note, having some earthship building experience (I have my degree in Biotecture from Earthship Biotecture in Taos NM) and well into a full size tire bale build I would personally hesitate on encouraging anyone without extensive building experience to do a tire bale build... not that it cannot be done. On the surface it appears simple, but it is anything but simple... or easy. Depending on your reasons for doing a tire bale build there are some other options that are simpler/easier and more within standard building codes.
Here is the website for my build.
http://www.dragonflyprairie.com/full-build/
The photos are a month or two behind, but you will get the idea.
Best - Bill