Letter to support Central Saanich motion on tiny houses.

This is the letter that will be read (not by me) in support of the tiny house motion being presented by Councillor Holman on July 30, which would prioritize some important first steps towards making tiny houses legal in that municipality.

Dear Mayor and Council;

My name is Karen Kehler. I have asked someone to read this letter on my behalf for two reasons. The first is a massive fear of public speaking. The second is simply that I am not comfortable stating my address for the records. That is because I live in a tiny house and therefore, although I do live locally, I am not a legal resident of Central Saanich.

Thank you to Council and staff for clarification at the July 9^th Council meeting that tiny homes are still to be considered in the Infill and Densification Review process even though they had not been included in either the public survey or open houses that have happened thus far. We are grateful for that inclusion and the opportunity for our group – Tiny Houses Advocates of Vancouver Island – to be involved in that process.

Our group is in total support of Councillor Holman’s motion on tiny houses. We believe that this issue needs to be looked at now. As tiny homes could potentially be tested with temporary use permits or pilot project status, it would make sense to look at tiny homes now instead of waiting for another year to even start talking about them.

I would like to address this motion primarily based on housing affordability. I chose to have a tiny home built because it was the only way that I could see to be able to stay in Victoria after I retire. It took me 30 years to get back to Vancouver Island and I don’t want to leave again!

I have to tell you that I love my tiny house! I love the comfort and efficiency of it. I love that I designed it to meet all my needs and wants with sufficient room for the things that are important to me. I love that I am living with a small environmental footprint. I love that my utilities cost less than $50/month. I love that it takes a leisurely 25 minutes for my weekly housework. I love that my Golden Retriever can still get to a full run down the length of the house in pursuit of her tennis ball. I love that living tiny will allow me to spend more time and money on the things I love. Most of all, I love that I will be able to live in my own home and age in place  with no need for subsidized housing. My housing costs – pad rental and utilities – will be under $550 a month. Now that is truly affordable housing!

In spite of all that, there are some negative things about living in a tiny home. Those negatives are caused from tiny homes not yet being recognized as an acceptable form of housing. In addition to have to live “illegally”, this also means that I could not get traditional financing, that I cannot get insurance for my home and that my nearest road access is not technically an address. This means that my house and my life are at risk if I need to call 911 and cannot be quickly located.

The biggest negative of living tiny is that I have no security. I have to hide my home as all it will take is one phone call from an anti-tiny-home Central Saanich resident (who does not even need to be a neighbour!) to cause the municipality to serve me with an eviction notice. I have lived in this community for nearly a year. I love it here and hope to be able to stay. I do not believe that I have any negative impact on the land, my neighbourhood or the community. And I fully believe that it is wrong for tiny house living to be wrong! In spite of my introverted and law-abiding nature, this is what has led me to become a tiny house advocate or, as a friend likes to call me, an “unlikely rebel”.

My father, a reknowned artist who taught ceramics workshops around the world, had a favourite saying that he used with his students and with his own work – Try It And See.

I think this motto is something that could be applied to tiny homes as well. Moveable tiny homes can be part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis that we are in now. I would love to see Central Saanich take this approach to become community leaders by incorporating tiny houses into the community as part of the affordable housing solution. Many Canadian communities are dealing with this issue and seem to be looking to see what actions are working in other municipalities before making big changes themselves. This is a chance for Central Saanich Council to demonstrate your strength, commitment, vision and leadership.

Thanks for listening! I would ask you each of you to support this motion as it is an important first step to allowing tiny houses to offer part of the solution to our local housing crisis. Please … let’s just TRY IT AND SEE!

Advocacy Update

A very positive week for our advocacy group ...

On Monday, Central Saanich Councillor Alicia Holman introduced a motion for staff to start working on research and a report regarding the possibility of introducing tiny homes to the community. The motion will be discussed at the July 30 meeting and if it passes, is an important first step for that municipality. We have also been invited to work with staff on the Infill and Densification Review for Central Saanich.

On Wednesday, we met with Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and the Director of Sustainable Planning and Community Development. It was an awesome meeting and they were both very much in favour of finding ways to make tiny homes an option in Victoria. We will be giving a talk at September's Lunchtime Lecture Series on "Cities in the 21st Century". I, of course, will not be speaking but getting the presentation together will be a group project. And we were very excited to find out that - if any of the dates we want are available - we can use Centennial Square for our Tiny House Showcase (tiny houses and booths outside and workshops in City Hall).

What I would change if I could redesign

My builder is about to embark on his second tiny house build. Having lived in my house for eight months now, I decided to send him some feedback on what I love and what I'd change if I could go back and redesign my home.

I love the fact that the loft has a landing instead of just a single level. This makes cleaning, making the bed and getting dressed much easier. And I love the overall layout and feeling of the house - other than the bathroom, it doesn't feel tiny at all. I like the fact that there is still room for Nova to get to a full run to chase her ball. And although I only use it when I have company, I like that the bench over the wheelwell offers seating as well as storage. And I like that the kitchen sink cover hides my dirty dishes.

The things I would change are: adding a ceiling fan, making the bathroom slightly larger and kitchen cabinetry. And I would have the electrical panel and hot water heater put elsewhere - as they are hard to get to if needed and they also prevent me from getting cabinetry built in the future. There were a few nights that the fireplace did not keep the house sufficiently warm so I would probably also change that. I'll probably skirt the house in the fall so that might be enough to make it a bit warmer. If not, I will put in new heating of some kind. I also think that the Separett is probably a better choice for composting toilets - there are a couple of design flaws in the Nature's Head.

In spite of the things I would change, I really do love my little home and am grateful that I made the decision to go tiny!

Advocacy Update

Well, not much to report on from the Happinest front. I'll try to post some garden photos next post. My garden has very poor soil and is in shade about 95% of the day so it is not optimal growing conditions. In spite of that - and my lack of a green thumb - most of my plants are doing quite well - although they do not grow very quickly. The only one who is not happy is my heuchara - Mum is going to visit this weekend and give it a talking to :)

On the advocacy front, things continue to move slowly. However, we did have a meeting with MLA Selina Robinson (Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing) and MLA Adam Olsen and two experts on the provincial building code. I can't say it was overwhelmingly positive but it has at least begun an advocacy conversation at a provincial level.

And locally, we may be working with MLA Adam Olsen to start a small tiny house community on First Nations land. This would bypass all the municipal regulations and zoning changes that would be required. And we will be meeting with Victoria mayor Lisa Helps next month to talk about tiny homes as granny suites prior to a presentation to Victoria Council. And finally, we are in early stages of planning our second Tiny House Showcase, which will happen later this summer

Visitors

As my camera and computer don't seem to be speaking to each other at the moment, I don't have any pictures to share.

However, as a good friend was compelled to remind me that I haven't added to my blog lately, I will at least write about visitors to Happinest Hollow!

My daughter came for a surprise visit from Whitehorse. I was out running errands and she phoned to tell me she was standing in my kitchen waiting for me! A lovely surprise and my first house guest. She only slept there two nights as she had use of Mum's apartment for part of the visit. The house was still roomy enough for both of us.

In addition to the buck Zeus (and an occasional girlfriend or two), I have had a couple of raccoons, a calico cat (who wants to catch my birds) and some new varieties of birds. In addition to all the regulars, a pair of goldfinches, a rufous hummingbird, a mourning dove, a yellow-rumped warbler and one that I have yet to identify have been coming around. And the other day, I was out in the field with Nova when a bald eagle swooped down and just missed catching a rabbit that was sitting in the grass about 30 feet away from me. I'm glad the eagle missed!

I will add bird and garden photos when I can.

Spring!

Yay - spring seems to finally be here! I moved my fairy garden to make the ugly area above my greywater ditch more attractive - and because it wasn't in a great spot by the wishing well now that the house is there. Mum helped me redesign my garden area the other day so that it creates a nice view when I am curled up on the couch. It still needs more plants (to be added as money allows) but is off to a nice start for 2018. Who knew I would enjoy gardening?

A few degrees from cozy ...

We had a stretch of spring-like weather after a wet but mild January. A few days ago, the temperatures dropped back below zero (which is cold for these parts). My fireplace will heat the house to about 15 degrees - which is not freezing but is also not quite warm enough to be considered cozy. An extra layer of clothing and a pair of slippers make it quite acceptable but I think I will look for a more efficient heater before next winter begins.

I have a new squirrel visiting. He only has half a tale so has been named Stubbs! A varied thrush has been added to the list of birds coming to the property. I'm at 28-30 species now.

A few minutes of fame!

One of the things I never expected when I decided to go tiny was getting kicked way out of my comfort zone. However, in the interest of advocating to make tiny houses legal, that has been happening over the last few months. A newspaper interview and radio show interview last year ... and now part of a mini-documentary on Shaw TV. Quite a feat for an extreme introvert who is very camera shy! Although I don't like being on film anymore than in photos, here is the video for those who have been following my tiny house saga.

January update

Life is good at the tiny house - muddy but good! January has been a very wet month and although the house itself is on slightly higher ground, the driveway and fields are extremely muddy. It does make it a bit hard to keep the house clean.

I tracked down at least part of my moisture issue. My hot water tank was leaking. Chances are it has been since day 1 but because it was under the kitchen counter, it was not an area that I ever noticed. Jamie has come and put in a new one now so that should help. The other day I opened a few windows to air out the place and after a couple of hours, my hygrometer showed that I had actually let in more humidity than I let out. I guess I won't bother doing that anymore until the weather improves a bit! I am using my fan more now and have bought a new dehumidifier (which I will move around to different corners) to keep the humidity under control.

Today, a film crew is coming to the house. They are coming primarily to interview Kenton (a tiny house building instructor) about an upcoming workshop and wanted it to be done in a tiny house. They will be asking Denise (a friend and member of our advocacy group) and I a few questions so I am, of course, a little nervous. Definitely out of my comfort zone!