No Mobile Homes in Existing R1

The Village of Haines Junction is proposing a new municipal zoning bylaw with the third and final reading on the agenda for September 25, 2024.

Owners of R1 zoned properties in Haines Junction invested in Haines Junction lots and housing secure knowing that the R1 zone would only include stick-built or modular dwellings. Council is now altering this contract through a consultation process that did not directly consult with the existing homeowners, and without due consideration of the impact of the change on stakeholders.

Mobile home infill around existing homes could lower property values and compromise neighborhood integrity in ways that were never agreed to. This threat is patently unjust and may be illegal under the Yukon Municipal Act.

283 (3) states that "... council is not empowered to impair the rights and privileges to which an owner of land is otherwise lawfully entitled." This bylaw as proposed may be doing exactly that.

Haines Junction needs mobile homes as an affordable housing option. The need for affordable housing was identified in the OCP but this change is not the way to achieve it. It exposes the community to irreversible and unintended future consequences on the backs of existing property owners.

Evidence for the success of this sort of change has not been presented and is unlikely to be successful. Council should not be oppressing Village property owners to institute their contentious social experiment.