Sackville bylaw that prescribes general shape of a house is under scrutiny

When Emilie McBride was finally able to apply for a building permit for her new home in Sackville, she was shocked when her application was rejected.

The reason it was denied? It was the wrong shape.

"It was really baffling," McBride said.

She planned a 500-square-foot house that would be 36 feet long by 14 feet wide.

But these dimensions went against a Sackville zoning bylaw that requires dwellings to be a minimum of 20 feet  wide  by 20 feet long. Her home wasn't going to be wide enough — by six feet.

"We're living in a housing crisis, we have been for multiple years, and I just felt like this was … really low hanging fruit, just this dimensional restriction for a house to be shaped that way," McBride said.

McBride said she tried everything to meet the requirements when she received her rejection in October. Could she put a screen porch on it? Could she put a six-foot wide pantry off her kitchen?

No, she was told. Her best bet was to try to get the bylaw amended.

Sackville is now part of Tantramar, and on Monday, Tantramar council held a public hearing to address changing the former town's zoning bylaw. 

Jenna Stewart with Plan360, the land planning division of the Southeast Regional Service Commission, explained the proposed amendment.

The proposal would remove the length and width requirement and simply require dwellings be at least 400 square feet.

According to Stewart's public hearing report, the strict dimension minimums were most likely put in place as an esthetic requirement "to differentiate between the appearance of a mobile home which typically has a maximum width of 18 ft."

Mini homes and mobile homes have a separate definition within the zoning bylaw.

The report says no concerns were raised when municipal staff were consulted about the bylaw change, and the Southeast Planning Review and Adjustment Committee recommends Tantramar council amend the bylaw.

Andrew Black, the mayor of Tantramar, said the change would still need to go through three readings, assuming council supports it.

While Black said the dimension requirement predates his time on council, it makes sense to consider the amendment because of the way housing has changed.

"New Brunswick has a ton of modular homebuilders and even the federal government has recognized the need for modular homes kind of filling a housing gap," he said. 

"Being restricted in that way by dimensions, rather than square footage, just seems backwards."