10-27-2025, 09:44 AM
Kitchener residents riled up over size of backyard build
Ward 4 councillor Christine Michaud: "“For this particular one? Yes, I’ll be honest, yes, I do think it is against the spirit [of the bylaw]. It’s still absolutely legal, and it’s what we agreed to."
“My interpretation and hope for the additional dwelling units is typically what you see in nice, little, tiny homes, or something that your mother-in-law or father-in-law might move into,” she explained.
The building is 75.2 square metres (809 square feet), the limit is 80 square metres. There is a proposal to reduce that limit to 75 square metres.
My mother-in-law is a boomer who lives in a gigantic house. It would be hard to convince her to live in something less than 800 square feet. Maybe Councillor Michaud's in-laws want a bachelor apartment in a tiny home, but when they pass away how desirable will that be for anyone else?
But, anyway, we have rules and then when developers follow them, the councillors talk about the "spirit," and the bureaucrats talk about how a developer "built it right to the max" (this in reference to the fact that the building in question is equal to the 4.5 metre height limit. Kind of nutty.
Ward 4 councillor Christine Michaud: "“For this particular one? Yes, I’ll be honest, yes, I do think it is against the spirit [of the bylaw]. It’s still absolutely legal, and it’s what we agreed to."
“My interpretation and hope for the additional dwelling units is typically what you see in nice, little, tiny homes, or something that your mother-in-law or father-in-law might move into,” she explained.
The building is 75.2 square metres (809 square feet), the limit is 80 square metres. There is a proposal to reduce that limit to 75 square metres.
My mother-in-law is a boomer who lives in a gigantic house. It would be hard to convince her to live in something less than 800 square feet. Maybe Councillor Michaud's in-laws want a bachelor apartment in a tiny home, but when they pass away how desirable will that be for anyone else?
But, anyway, we have rules and then when developers follow them, the councillors talk about the "spirit," and the bureaucrats talk about how a developer "built it right to the max" (this in reference to the fact that the building in question is equal to the 4.5 metre height limit. Kind of nutty.