PR tiny home complex is proposed

PRIEST RIVER — A Priest River mobile home park could ultimately be transformed to a tiny home complex, pending approval of a conditional use permit.

The proposed project by landowner Mark Mazenko would turn the 2.13-acre parcel, which currently has 20 mobile home parcels, into 38 tiny homes. The property is located at 281 Gregory St. on the west side of Highway 57, between James and West Beardmore avenues. With an eight- to 12-year buildout goal, Mazenko and Engineer Jerry Storhaug said they do not want to displace any of the current residents, many of whom are elderly.

“Through the natural transition of someone moving out, it is set up such that (Mazenko) can build the units four at a time,” Storhaug said. “... It is not something that he is planning to develop all at once. He sees it as a long transition, but this transition we see as an improvement to the property and a good long-term use of it.”

In addition to the conditional use permit, Mazenko is requesting a variance to allow a tiny home community in a mixed-use residential zone. The variance would allow for a minimum home size of 480 square feet, rather than the 1,000 square foot minimum allowed per city ordinance.

City Council members voted to table a decision on the conditional use permit and variance until the May 6 meeting, allowing themselves time to absorb the information from the public hearing and better understand the entirety of the project.

“We recognize that this is a fairly large development for the city of Priest River and something new,” said Bryan Quayle, city planning and zoning director. “The council should take the time they need to deliberate toward a decision.”

While about 30 people attended Monday’s public hearing, only a handful chose to comment on the proposal. Five people commented, with one for, three neutral, and one against the proposal.

“Our biggest concern, and it got answered, is that we would be displaced,” said one woman on the neutral side, whose mother lives in the mobile home park. “I can’t speak for everybody, but my mother is not the healthiest person, and financially, it would be an extreme hardship to have to relocate.”

Others expressed similar concerns regarding financial hardship for the residents if they were required to move, as the elderly tenants are mostly on fixed incomes.

“It’s reassuring that it is an eight- to 12-year (project), and we appreciate Mark’s coming to us and talking about it,” said another woman who was neutral.

The man who spoke in favor of the project said he thinks the property lends itself well to this type of use. However, he said nearly 40 units “is going overboard.”

“Half that would be more realistic,” he said.

Similarly, the man who spoke out against the project said he is mainly against the number of units proposed.

“Right now we deal with lots of traffic issues,” he said. “Speeding is a hazard for kids and elderly walking animals ... the thought of having that many more people living in that stretch is enough, at this point, for me to be against it.”

Traffic is addressed in the permit application, noting that a “slight” increase in traffic is anticipated, though Storhaug said it would be significantly less than if, for example, an apartment complex was built on the property.

“So this is less than what the potential use of the property could be under the current zoning,” Storhaug said.

The target market for tiny homes is the younger generation, Storhaug said. They are also ideal for older couples or part-time residents. Storhaug said the average cost of a tiny home ranges from $50,000-$70,000. The homes would likely be built offsite and then moved to the property, though some may be built onsite, Storhaug said. Either way, once they are onsite, they will be permanent structures on a foundation, he said.

Maintenance would be done as a community, managed through a homeowners association, Storhaug said. Each unit would have a storage facility and onsite parking, with a six-foot fence on the highway side of the development and a common space in the center of the property with a basketball court, playground and picnic area.

Storhaug said he and Mazenko are excited about the project.

“We think it is a very good fit for Priest River,” he said. “... We are anxious to get started on it.” Council members also tabled an appeal to the city’s new occupied RV ordinance, which restricts the amount of time someone can stay in an RV on private property within city limits to one week. While the topic was a separate agenda item, Mazenko stuck around for the appeal discussion, as the resident who requested it lives in an RV in the mobile home park.

“I think I see the RV ordinance in the same way that we saw the timeline for our development in that there are people who live there,” Mazenko said. “It’s not transitional, it’s not people that are there temporarily.”

For some of the residents, Mazenko said there is simply no other place for them to go. He asked council to allow the RVs as a transition to the new development, and as the lots open up, they will build it out.

To further research the city’s ordinance for mobile home parks and RVs, council members agreed to come back to the topic at the next meeting.

City Council will meet next at 5:30 p.m. on May 6 at Priest River City Hall, 209 High St.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.