Proposed tiny home to help homeless stirs controversy
By Jason Rantala
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BLAINE, Minnesota (WCCO) — Tiny homes, also known as accessory dwelling units, are all the rage in some communities but that’s not the case in Blaine, Minnesota.
“There’s no encampments in the north metro or anything like that, but there is, you know, homelessness is an issue,” said Alex Pepin.
Driven by faith and a need to help, Pepin hoped a four-year-old Blaine city code allowing tiny homes on properties could fill a need.
His idea is to temporarily house a family inside a yet to be built 600-square-foot tiny home in his backyard.
“It would be families coming out of homelessness, so they would have gone through a program first,” said Pepin.
Pepin said he would work alongside area nonprofits, helping families eventually find permanent housing.
After word got out about Pepin’s project, a backlash soon followed. Several concerned neighbors spoke out at an April city planning commission meeting.
In May, Pepin’s permit to build was denied, and the city of Blaine decided to start the process of putting a pause on all tiny homes for up to a year. That pause could be finalized in June.
Several council members felt Pepin did not meet the intent of the ordinance.
“Their ruling was based on the concerns from other people that were not necessarily grounded in fact or anything,” said Pepin.
Next door neighbor, Dave Hime, said the neighborhood yards are much too small for what Pepin wants to build.
“This is a development of private homes. It was never intended to be anything else, not low income housing,” Hime told the planning commission in April.
In the meantime, Pepin is still figuring out next steps, including an appeal.
“We’re really trying to do this to just live out our lives as Christians, to help people that are in need, whether that’s our family or people in need in the community,” said Pepin.
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