South Okanagan couple pushing regional district for right to live in tiny home

A couple in Okanagan Falls is pressing the district for approval to live in their custom-built tiny home year-round, and their community is backing them up.

Emily Kogel is a family doctor working at Penticton Regional Hospital and does locums at family practises across the Okanagan and Similkameen.

Her husband Keith Balisky is a registered clinical counsellor at his private practice called Three Points Counselling. He also works at various organizations in the community.

The couple doesn’t know if they’ll be allowed to live in their tiny home while they wait for the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen to decide whether to approve a Temporary Use Permit.

In 2022, they were renting a basement suite in Penticton and were ready to enter the home ownership market but were turned off by the cost of mortgages so they explored the tiny home option.

“We didn’t see it as fitting with our financial plan at the time to become single detached family dwelling owners,” Kogel said. “The cost of mortgages was exorbitant and we didn’t want to be house poor.”

From 2023 to early 2024, the couple worked with Summit Tiny Homes in Vernon – now Summit Building Co – to make a custom tiny home. The 400 square foot tiny home is sitting on rented land at 1609 Green Lake Road using tested well water with a septic tank, power and internet.

“We started with a model we liked and modified it a lot to fit our purposes,” Kogel said. “We had the opportunity to sit with the builder and do design talks. Everything, all the services were done to code and already at the site before we started renting the land.”

Kogel said she thought she had done her due diligence reading through the bylaws before moving in.

“I figured out what zone we were going to be living on and read through the restrictions on the use of the land,” she said. “I read the bylaws governing an accessary dwelling unit in this area. Our unit complied with all of those regulations.

“To be honest, I thought we were in the clear.”

Six months after the couple moved in, their land owner received a letter from the regional district stating there was building taking place on his property and there was no building permit assigned. That issue was cleared up but it opened up a different one.

According to regional district regulations, the home isn’t considered an accessory dwelling unit, rather an RV and therefore not suitable for year-round living.

“Tiny homes don’t have their own building code but they need it,” Kogel said. “There is BC Building Code but it doesn’t apply to units under a certain square footage and on wheels.

“You can build manufactured homes to code through a national standard and there are two designations within that. Ours is certified to the RV building standard so while our home is not a typical RV, because there is no room in the bylaws for tiny homes like ours, it’s considered an RV.  Therefore, you have to apply for a temporary use permit which can be tricky, unfortunately.”

The couple applied for a temporary use permit a year-and-a-half ago but that application was closed and they were told to reapply.

“We don’t know what happened,” Kogel said. “We heard nothing for awhile and a month later were told to reapply. We’re on the second application which is why we’ve been here for two years but are still in the application process.”

On April 16, there’s a district board of directors meeting where the couple’s temporary use permit will be approved or denied.

Earlier this week, the couple went to social media and asked the community to fill out feedback forms with the regional district in support of them living in the tiny home year-round.

“The response has been overwhelmingly positive, we’re floored,” Kogel said. “My hope is that our regional district will see there’s a lot of support out there for homes such as these.”

The couple is looking at their case as part of a solution to the affordable housing crisis in BC.

“We’re happy to comply with bylaws but we also think the bylaws need to be updated,” she said.