Saint John moving to allow mini homes on rural lots
Saint John council may make it easier to put mini homes on lots in rural parts of the city.
A proposal to create a new zoning category is expected to be given third reading next week.
"People are looking for ways to be able to move to rural areas," said Planning Advisory Committee chair Alex Weaver Crawford.
"People are asking for this and the city is responding by making it more available."
The new category would allow mobile or mini homes of at least 65 square metres — 700 square feet — to be placed on residential lots that are not in mini home parks. They could be along rural roads or in subdivisions that don't have covenants against them.
It's intended to include properties along major rural arterial and collector roadways including Loch Lomond Road, Latimore Lake Road and Golden Grove Road.
A mobile or mini home will have to be situated so that its length is parallel to the street. And if it doesn't have a permanent foundation it will need opaque skirting.
The council agenda package included one letter of objection to a trial rezoning of the Nadiana Way cul-de-sac near the Saint John airport, from someone who said they didn't want a mini-home park next door.
The applicants submitted a letter saying their home was built with the same materials as other prefabricated modular homes or bungalows.
"The value of our home and property is valued higher than some of the homes and mini homes up and down Eldersley Avenue," wrote Karen and Michael Landry.
Weaver Crawford, who has a background in architecture, said the zone will allow for a mix of housing types and new mini homes don't look like the models of the 1970s.
They're wider than they used to be, she said, and some have adjoining units so that multiple generations can live together.
They also appeal to people who want to downsize, she added.
City planner Ken Melanson said 10 to 20 inquiries come in each year from people interested in putting mini homes on city lots.
"People backed away because there hasn't been a zone that necessarily fit," said Melanson.
"Now we have a zone that will fit."
The new zoning category is also a "key piece," he said, in the city's effort to make more affordable housing options available.
It may not be as affordable an option as some people think, however.
"You are kind of running into things like putting in your own septic and water wells," noted Weaver Crawford.
She still thinks the new zone is a good move, though, "to respond to the market needs."
The vacancy rate for two-bedroom apartments in parts of the city is well below one per cent, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
And there are about 1,100 people on the waiting list for affordable housing in the Saint John area, according to a community group that supports co-operative and non-profit housing.
Saint John's municipal plan calls for "a wide array of housing options for people of various income levels, in all areas of the city."
The city has many "sprawling" rural areas that might be suitable for mini homes, said Weaver Crawford.
In that sense its footprint resembles Miramichi, noted a Growth and Community Planning report.
The report said Miramichi has a similar policy allowing mini homes on rural lots.
