Mini home prohibition about to end
Manufactured homes now built to Nova Scotia’s strict construction code
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality has taken the first steps in ending the prohibition of mini homes in certain urban areas of the municipality.
Mini homes, perhaps better known as mobile homes, have been banned in most communities even though they make up five per cent of the dwellings in the CBRM. Presently such residences can only be found in long-established mobile home parks, rural areas and in parts of Sydney Mines.
Planning director Malcolm Gillis said municipal staff saw a need to change the outdated policy while reviewing the CBRM’s Municipal Planning Strategy. The regulations governing mini homes were okayed in 2004, but he said they were still behind the times even then.
“These were the identical policies of the former towns and the City of Sydney, and some of them were adopted more than two generations ago,” said Gillis.
“The construction specifications for a mobile home/mini home are now significantly improved in comparison to what people often called ‘trailers’ and are inspected for compliance with the building code of the province of Nova Scotia.”
Gillis said he’s hopeful the new policy on manufactured homes helps debunk some of the myths and fallacies associated with the traditional mobile home, such as inferior construction, their mobile nature and the view that their long, narrow one-storey architectural style was an anomaly.
“And although it wasn’t articulated in the land use policy, there was an assumption that the occupants were of a relatively lower social status, that the homes were a comparatively inexpensive form of housing and that there was a fear they would reduce real estate values if placed within a streetscape of conventional housing,” he said.
However, Gillis suggested that the mini home ban be upheld in areas where the average assessment is more than $100,000, which also happens to be the base price of a new, modern pre-fabricated home. And, he recommended they should also be prohibited in neighbourhoods where they wouldn’t be architecturally complementary with existing homes, citing Sydney’s Whitney Avenue as an example, which is home to a collection of larger-than-average dwellings. A public participation program must be held before any change are officially made, but councillors like Darren Bruckschwaiger appeared enthusiastic about the new land-use direction.
“I think it is a great idea — I know Glace Bay hasn’t allowed them there, but I’m hearing now that in the Number 2 area there are a lot of those half-company houses with lots that are 100 feet by 40 feet and they work out great for mini homes,” said Bruckschwaiger, who added that he resided in a mobile home when he was first married.
District 1 Coun. Clarence Prince represents Sydney Mines, the only former town in the CBRM that has permitted mobile homes within its boundaries.
“It certainly doesn’t mean there will be an influx of people buying them, but it gives them the option to consider buying them and having the ability to situate them in areas they may want to be in the CBRM,” he said. Gillis agreed and went on to suggest that mini homes are now a viable housing option in communities with lower than average incomes.
“As the cost of housing increases and the average family income in the CBRM continues to compare unfavourably to the provincial and the national averages, pre-fabricated homes are a more financially feasible alternative in the CBRM housing market,” he said, adding that more than 70 per cent of CBRM mini homes are located outside of conventional mobile home parks. We should look for ways to encourage more in-fill development here in our urban communities where the services are already there — these are lots that are vacant, that are relatively cheap because they are already serviced, and I think it’s a win-win for the affordable housing concern and for the need for this municipality to get more laterals connected to our service infrastructure.”
While changes to the Municipal Planning Strategy require a public participation program, Gillis suggested such a process could be conducted by soliciting constituent responses through social media.