- BY JENNIFER ARGUE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
February 6th, 2022
Town of Lumsden - Aimee Bryck is the RM and Town of Lumsden’s Director of Planning and Development. She said the RM and Town have recently received inquiries regarding small homes. Both municipalities already have provisions in place for backyard suites, and neither have a minimum square footage for a principal dwelling. Bryck said if a “tiny/small home” that was a single detached dwelling as a principal use met all of the development standards, it would be approved because it’s considered a “permitted use” and wouldn’t need to go before Council. However, if it was a “secondary suite,” such as a backyard in-law suite, there are floor area requirements. These are considered “discretionary uses” requiring approval of Council.
“It’s an interesting trend in housing and one that we will likely see more of. We have received a few inquiries from people wanting to go in this direction. At the present time, we do have options under our bylaws to accommodate them. However, moving forward we will evaluate if we need to adapt our standards to be more supportive of this use. Both councils appreciate that in the Lumsden area we don’t have a lot of lodging accommodations such as hotels, so this may provide an additional option, as well, with the economy being what it is, it is another type of housing stock available to people.”
