Carriage house size questioned at meeting

How big is too big for a carriage house in Penticton?

That is going to be a topic for city staff and the upcoming review of the Official Community Plan (OCP), after city council turned down a variance application for a proposed 2,755 square foot carriage house at 142 Kendall Cres.

The proposed garden house, featuring five bedrooms, three bath and two laundry facilities, was in front of city council seeking a development variance on Tuesday. The application to increase the footprint and height brought wider concerns about Penticton city’s bylaws surrounding the size and character of these backyard residences.

“When people think of a carriage house, they think two bedrooms, 600 to 700 square feet,” said Mayor Andrew Jakubeit on Tuesday.

Jakubeit said that is the size of the carriage house he has in his backyard.

“The size of this concerns me,” the mayor added.

Neighbours opposed to the three-storey secondary home came out in full force to Tuesday’s meeting.

Betty Jean Walls is the homeowner looking to expand the carriage house’s footprint, by adding sundecks and raising the height one foot. Kendall Crescent is a larger lot neighbourhood.

Doug Ewasiuk moved next door to Walls from Vancouver two years ago.

“We moved here to escape the overcrowding, noise and traffic,” he told council.

“It has been heaven for the past two years. We picked this house because it is quiet. If I knew this I wouldn’t have bought the property,” said Ewasiuk. “We didn’t find out about the plans until last Thursday. Full-sized deck looking onto my property.”

The proposed home will be about seven feet from the neighbour’s pool.

Kim Lyster lives adjacent from the Walls. She said she will lose all her privacy and the decks would look directly into her backyard.

“Aren’t carriage houses supposed to be smaller than the primary home?” Lyter asked.

The primary residence is a small bungalow with a basement.

Residents submitted a petition to council signed by more than 26 neighbours opposing the backyard home.

Walls said she is building it for her son to live in. She said maybe one day she will live there.

But neighbours and some council members questioned why there needs to be a basement and two laundry facilities in the home if it is just for one person.

Ewasiuk said he worries it will be turned into an Airbnb.

In the end, council unanimously voted to deny the variances. But that means the homeowner could still build the carriage house without the sundecks and extra height, said city planner Anthony Haddad.

“If they would go ahead without the variances, all that would be required of them is a building permit,” said Haddad.

He later said that this is one of the larger carriage houses the city has seen.

“There are some larger ones on Windsor Crescent but the majority of those carriage houses have lane access,” said Haddad.