A tiny home prominently displaying advertising for a contracting company has caused a conflict between Rocky View County (RVC) and the homeowner – the owner of the contracting company.
Gregg Taylor decided to make the most out of a slow time at work by building a tiny home in his backyard in Dover. According to Taylor, once the structure was completed, he found land for rent in Springbank and moved the house onto the land in October.
“I looked at the zoning requirements and it didn’t make any mention (of tiny homes), it said RVs were allowed,” Taylor said. “There wasn’t anything in the bylaws that I could read stating that it wasn’t allowed out there, and I didn’t want to phone the county and open up a can of worms to ask them.”
Taylor said the structure was on the property for about a month before he made the decision to move in, despite a lack of water or wastewater servicing. According to Taylor, he was in the process of investing in a water recycling system and wastewater tanks similar to an RV when he received a notice from a Rocky View County (RVC) peace officer that the home doesn’t meet the County’s land-use requirements.
“What we have here is a structure on wheels that was parked along a roadside with a sign on it advertising a business that builds tiny houses,” said Grant Kaiser, communications manager with RVC. “The land is zoned for residential use, not commercial, and it has no permanent residence on it. Without a permanent residence, our Land Use Bylaw does not allow for trailers, motor homes, mobile homes, accessory dwelling units, or similar structures on the property.”
According to Kaiser, to build a tiny home within RVC, an applicant must first apply for a development permit, and, if granted, a building permit. Although he said it has been reported that RVC “turned down” the “tiny house,” no development permit or building permit has ever been applied for.
“There’s no permit I can apply for,” Taylor said. “I didn’t build the home on (RVC) land, so they are saying I was against the rules, but it wasn’t. It’s not even a building, it’s a trailer – building code doesn’t apply to trailers. So what they’re saying at the County is absolutely false.”
Taylor said he has been in contact with RVC’s planning department, who he said “won’t even take an application for something like this.” He plans to leave his tiny home on the Springbank lot and wait for RVC to issue the $1,500 fine – which he said he will be disputing in court.
“It’s a real kick in the teeth that they want to kick me off of here,” Taylor said. “But if I have to leave, I just hook up to my truck and drive away. I can take it wherever I want.”
According to Kaiser, the issue is less about tiny homes and more about advertising or mobile homes.
“This is no different from any other proposed residence that doesn’t match the specific zoning for a property,” he said. “Rocky View County is not opposed to tiny homes – they have just never come up before. Like any municipality anywhere, we need to protect the municipality, the community and neighbours from any potential negative impacts, so we simply require people to follow the prescribed process to ensure that’s done.”
