Second thoughts hit a number of the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen’s directors when it came to a temporary use permit for a tiny home in Naramata
The permit to use the tiny home as an accessory residence had been brought forward previously by Naramata director Adrienne Fedrigo, who recused herself over the issue and lives in the tiny home.
On Jan. 16, the board had voted to allow the temporary use permit (TUP) application without conditions, with three directors opposed at that time.
On Feb. 8, the topic was reopened and the motion was revisited. This time a majority voted against letting the permit be approved without any restrictions.
Instead a vote was held that the permit be approved with conditions.
Those conditions included hooking up the tiny home to a sewage disposal system that met Interior Health standards within six months.
Concerns about the Okanagan Basin Water Board’s one-hectare policy against accessory homes on properties without sewer connections were once again a main focus of discussion. Even with the conditions, some directors were worried about whether the OBWB would consider it still a contravention of their policy and thus risk the loss of grant opportunities.
Director Rick Knodel of Rural Oliver pointed out that the policy wasn’t the OBWB’s creation but the result of past provincial legislation.
“This is a policy from the province, and as we know the province is busy changing a lot of things right now,” said Knodel. “The province needs to start deciding what they’re going to do with this regulation, at this point they’ve kind of given us some confusing words about what it does.”
READ MORE: Naramata regional district director gets to keep living in tiny home
Director Matt Taylor of Okanagan Falls noted that he had several other concerns beyond just OBWB’s policy, and that the situation wasn’t on their fellow director.
“The agent is our director, but she’s the agent for the homeowner, so when I look at the homeowner, there’s four issues in various stages. There was a deck with no permit that was corrected. There was a kitchen improvement, no permit still outstanding. It’s a tiny home, no permit, we’re trying to get that corrected,” said Taylor. “We asked if there are short term rentals. There are, they’re advertised, there’s no TUP. That to me is the background that I need to look at.”
Director Riley Gettens of West Bench took issue with the cladding’s permanent appearance on the tiny home, the three year maximum length of the TUP and a lack of communication with residents over the proposal. The permit process had not received any feedback from residents as of the Jan. 16 board meeting.
“So my concern is that there hasn’t been a lot of communication because that’s what I have heard. To do this again for three years without doing more communication and hearing from the folks in Naramata, I’m not comfortable with the three years,” said Gettens. “If it’s for less time, then that does allow the province to do what they’re doing, that does allow for some proper communication because it has to go back for renewal in a year.”
Gettens noted that a previous Naramata RV that had been granted a TUP for residential use in the RDOS’ previous term had included discussions with the area’s advisory planning committee.
A vote to allow the permit with conditions and up to three years before renewal was approved, with Gettens and Pendergraft opposed.