Okotoks is taking a second look at locations for its proposed tiny home village. There has been pushback from the community after the Town announced it was working with Vagabond Tiny Homes to design a tiny home eco village, which proposed 32 units and a central community building at Kinsmen Park, at the east end of McRae Street. Andrew Sitter, who lives in a condo backing onto Kinsmen Park, started a petition as soon as he heard about the project and to-date has collected close to 300 signatures. He wants to see the development go somewhere else in town and leave the park untouched. “What it is, they’re young families here and their kids play in that park all the time,” said Sitter. He said he’s concerned about children who play in the park daily and students who cross Kinsmen Park to get to their school bus stop on the north end, or to walk up the hill to Okotoks Junior High School or Percy Pegler. Though there are soccer players there on weekends during the spring, he said the regular use by area residents is his largest concern. Okotoks resident Russ Wheatley, who does not back onto the green space, shared the same thoughts with town council on Sept. 10. “As the town grows, parks become more and more important, regardless of location,” said Wheatley. “You were kids once and as you remember, you did not book your playtime with the central registrar.” Okotoks CAO Elaine Vincent said the project is in its infancy, and the Town just began its public consultation process at the end of August. To begin, meetings with adjacent residents and stakeholder groups were held during the week of Aug. 20, with about 16 homeowners in attendance, she said. The Town also met with residents at ChiliFest on Aug. 25 to get input on the proposed development, she said. “What we can say is while most were supportive of the idea, they were not supportive of the location,” said Vincent. Kinsmen Park was initially selected as a site for the tiny home village because it is under-used by programs like Okotoks Minor Soccer, which could locate elsewhere in town, and because it is Town-owned land. A public survey, which ran from Aug. 13 to Sept. 3 was completed by 229 people and saw similar results as the meetings and face-to-face consultation, she said. According to the survey, about 39 per cent of respondents indicated interest in Okotoks pursuing the development while an additional 29 per cent said it depended on the location and design. About 16 per cent indicated they would like to live in a tiny home village, she said. A detailed report of the survey and consultation results can be found at www.okotoks.ca. The public consultation will help define the Town’s next steps, she said. First, Town staff is analyzing other potential locations in Okotoks for the development that fit within the requirements of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which is funding the project. “This will include a comparative examination of the proposed sites to the proposed Kinsmen Park site, so we can weigh the pros and cons to any of the sites we determine and potentially workable,” said Vincent. “This would mean development costs, grant eligibility, water supply, project timing and partner receptivity.” The site comparison is expected to come before council on Sept. 24, she said. Access to the CMHC, funding is one of the biggest drivers in the project, she said. It’s what brought the entire development to light. “They just came to Okotoks to say, ‘Can we make this work here?’” said Vincent. “With the original timing of the project, that’s why there was only one site that worked.” She said working with CMHC since the confidentiality agreement was lifted mid-August, the Town has been able to express what it’s heard from the public and has time to look into other options. If council chooses a site, the development will come before the public again through land-use hearings, she said. “It’s always an interesting time when we begin to have a dialogue with the community and that’s what this is about,” said Vincent. “The important part of the dialogue is that we listen and we respond to it. That shows we’re a responsive government at both the elected official and administrative level.” In the end, council has final say as to whether the project proceeds anywhere in town or not, she said. Coun. Florence Christophers was pleased to hear there was still time to make changes as necessary. She said the project had taken on a life of its own through misunderstanding in the community, but it’s still unfolding and going through more public engagement. “It’s really exciting and I think it’s captured some people’s imaginations, and it’s got a lot of attention, but I think one of the down sides to that is it made it sound like this is a done deal,” said Christophers. “It’s not a done deal. Council has not yet voted on it, it hasn’t yet come to the table, we’re still waiting on details.”
