A South Okanagan couple living in a tiny home will get to stay a little longer as the regional district explores ways to allow the small structure’s use as a permanent home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tiny homes aren’t allowed in BC, despite their prevalence in rural regions, and people have faced bylaw constraints from regional districts across the Thompson-Okanagan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But a South Okanagan couple’s effort to get a three-year permit from the Okanagan-Similkameen regional district board prompted directors to look for ways to allow them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We do have people living in RVs, whether we like it or not, year-round,” director and Penticton mayor Julius Bloomfield said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a sentiment echoed by several other directors, who pointed to RV parks often filled with people living full-time, rather than temporarily as tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regional district staff suggested the board deny the permit, largely due to health and safety concerns because while a tiny home meets national RV standards, it doesn’t meet the BC Building Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emily Kogel and her husband, Keith Balisky, rent the Green Lake Road property and bought the custom-built, 400 square-foot tiny home from a Vernon manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kogel told iNFOnews.ca they didn’t want to be “house poor”<\/a> and preferred the smaller home over a larger detached house. They thought they complied with the district’s zoning rules but six months after their move they got a letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTiny homes don\u2019t have their own building code but they need it,\u201d Kogel told iNFOnews.ca earlier this month. \u201cThere’s BC Building Code but it doesn\u2019t apply to units under a certain square footage and on wheels.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n They asked the regional district for a three-year permit to stay on the property, but their hope is that the regional district can find a way to fit tiny homes into zoning rules. That’s what board asked its staff to explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On April 16, director Subrina Monteith proposed the decision on Kogel’s permit be postponed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She said district staff should detail what legal liability tiny homes put on the board, and rural directors should work toward a new policy for “alternative housing options.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monteith said she previously spoke with Premier David Eby about whether tiny homes were “a solution” to making housing affordable, who told her they simply don’t meet building codes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n