It may be tiny but the happiness a 400-square-foot home in Okanagan Falls brings its owners is anything but small.
“It’s been a dream of mine to have a tiny home,” said Emily Kogel. “I was fascinated with the concept of living in a smaller square footage and having a smaller environmental footprint.”
The home was manufactured by Vernon Tiny Homes.
Kogel said it’s fully serviced with clean well water and a septic system and built like standard home.
“The outside is 100 per cent cedar siding. Those are double pane Ply Gem windows, the roof is a steel roof and it has a 40 pound per square foot snow load,” Kogel said.
The tiny home also enabled the young professional couple to achieve first-time home ownership.
“That was the deciding factor,” said Keith Balisky. “When we were looking at the housing market, it was just unattainable for where we are.”
Balisky is a registered clinical counsellor. Kogel is a locum family doctor working at clinics across the South Okanagan and Similkameen as well as Penticton General Hospital.
“We’re both early in our career coming into the housing market,” said Kogel. “We were looking at home ownership but the cost of owning or having a mortgage was so expensive, combined with our student debt. We just didn’t feel it was the right financial decision for us.”
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But their living situation is in limbo because their tiny home is not considered a permanent dwelling, classified instead as a recreational vehicle (RV), in which the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen prohibits year-round living without approval.
“Tiny homes are in that kind of weird in-between limbo where there’s no regulation, so they have to follow some sort of regulation,” Balisky said. “The builders typically go by kind of RV standards but our home is way above RV standards in that way.”
The rules could force the couple to move, a potential loss to the communities they serve amid a doctor shortage.
“I don’t expect exceptions as a physician,” Kogel said. “But I do think that the bylaws governing additional dwelling units probably could be updated and I think it’s time to do that in the midst of our housing crisis.”
In an email to Global News, the RDCO stated the Okanagan Valley Zoning Bylaw does not recognize “tiny home” as a dwelling type.
It added, “the only way for them to be permitted is through an approval by the RDOS Board (either in the form of a rezoning or a temporary use permit).”
The couple has submitted a request application for a temporary use permit. In the meantime, the couple has taken their plight to social media, asking for the public’s support of their temporary use permit application by signing an online form.
Kogel said the response has been overwhelming.
“We’re very grateful for all the positive support,” Kogel said. “We’re not we’re not trying to skirt the rules. We’re very supportive of having land use regulations in place and we want housing to be safe for everyone, but unless there’s a safety issue here, I don’t see why it should be prohibited.”
The RDOS board is expected to vote on the permit application at its regular meeting on April 16.
“It would be pretty devastating,” Kogel said when asked how she would feel if the application is denied. “We love living in this community. We love working in this community.”
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