South Okanagan couple’s efforts prompt regional district to consider tiny homes

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.

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.

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.

“We do have people living in RVs, whether we like it or not, year-round,” director and Penticton mayor Julius Bloomfield said.

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.

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.

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.

Kogel told iNFOnews.ca they didn’t want to be “house poor” 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.

“Tiny homes don’t have their own building code but they need it,” Kogel told iNFOnews.ca earlier this month. “There’s BC Building Code but it doesn’t apply to units under a certain square footage and on wheels.”

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.

On April 16, director Subrina Monteith proposed the decision on Kogel’s permit be postponed.

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.”

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.

“I look at the Penticton tiny homes. Well, they didn’t have a kitchen, but the province called them tiny homes. Provincially, we’re confused,” she said.

Another director, Isaac Gilbert, said the province should be more flexible when it comes to alternative housing.

“I’m very disappointed with this province. They talk about housing and affordability and they’ve now pulled the funding to any type of social housing. A lot of our projects have now been slashed and cancelled,” Gilbert said, who is also a Penticton city councillor.

Whether the regional district will find a way to allow tiny homes isn’t clear, but it’s a known issue across the province, while housing affordability remains a pressing issue in many BC communities.

iNFOnews.ca recently spoke with a former Central Okanagan resident, Ryan King, who settled with that regional district after a lengthy dispute over his tiny home. He moved from the area and, in exchange, the region abandoned its enforcement efforts.

He found another property to live on with his tiny home, but there’s no guarantee he won’t be subjected to bylaw enforcement again.