Grey Highlands council wants to see modular and mobile homes allowed anywhere a traditional home can be built.
At its meeting on Oct. 16, council voted to proceed with amendments to the municipality’s zoning bylaw and official plan that would allow modular and mobile homes in all zones where single-family residences are permitted.
Council chose to reject a staff recommendation to lift the ban on modular and mobile homes in certain areas of the municipality in favour of proceeding with a change to allow those types of housing everywhere other forms of housing are permitted.
Grey Highlands will proceed with a housekeeping amendment to its official plan to end the ban on modular and mobile homes. At same time, the municipality will use the current zoning bylaw review/update process to erase the prohibition on mobile/modular homes.
Members of council were anxious to proceed with lifting the ban to create a more diverse field of housing options for local residents.
“If you’re a young person, how do you get started? We need to get moving on making it as of right,” said Mayor Paul McQueen. “Things have changed in the last five to 10 years with regards to housing.”
The process to end the ban on modular/mobile homes began when a local Grey Highlands resident had to go through the zoning and official plan amendment process to construct a home on their property that had been built elsewhere and was to be transported to their lot.
Planning staff told council that mobile/modular home bans were “boilerplate” language in many original zoning bylaws dating back decades and had just carried forward over the years.
“Allowing all residents of our municipality the option of mobile or modular homes is the right thing to do, no matter where it is in our municipality,” said Coun. Nadia Dubyk.
In a report on the matter, planning staff recommended a more cautious approach to lifting the ban that would have been limited to specific areas of the municipality.
Andrew Payne, manager of planning, said an area-specific approach to lifting the ban would help avoid unintended consequences that could follow a full lifting of the prohibition.
“It may have implications council is unaware of,” said Payne, who explained that in some jurisdictions where the prohibition had been lifted in full by local government, landowners and developers had responded by installing mobile and modular home bans on title of properties in their development creating, in effect, their own bans on those types of housing.
In a 5-2 recorded vote, council voted in favour of a total lifting of the ban using a housekeeping amendment to the official plan and the zoning bylaw review for the zoning bylaw. McQueen and Coun. Tom Allwood voted against that course of action.
McQueen argued in favour of moving faster on the matter noting that the zoning bylaw review and update was going to take up to a year and half to complete.
“I feel there is a desire (with the public) to move forward. I don’t feel there is opposition to it,” said McQueen.
Other members of council were satisfied with the approach that prevailed and said it would allow changes and updates as the project proceeded.
“As we go through the zoning review we still have the chance to change our minds and fine tune this,” said Coun. Paul Allen. “We have the option of changing things if desired.”
