Lakeshore council has requested administration hold public consultations prior to presenting an amended draft to the municipal zoning bylaw on the use of shipping containers.
Administration is considering allowing the permanent use of shipping containers in rural areas under very strict in certain circumstances, while prohibiting the use in typical urban areas.
Council heard Tuesday night that currently, the bylaw has no definition of a shipping container, but the use of shipping containers is prohibited in any area of the municipality, other than for temporary storage of goods, such as for moving purposes, for up to 120 days.
Ward 6 Councillor Larissa Vogler said there's a grey area and wondered under what circumstances would a shipping container's definition be changed.
"Because I've seen people take shipping containers, it's a box, and they've added windows, doors, they've changed the roof line, they've painted it, and they put plants, flower boxes, anchored it and been told they have to remove it from their property because it's a shipping container, but really it looks better than most peoples sheds," Vogler said.
Ward 3 Councillor Kelsey Santarossa said she doesn't want to squash innovation where possible as they've seen residents use them already as accessory structures or advertisements.
"We're also seeing private industry try to catch up and meet the demands of consumers in this space, either by creating these as pre fab, taking a look at opportunities to create, you know, whether it's a hobby shed, some folks in restaurants are starting to use them as self contained ventilated greenhouses to produce goods on site, which is quite spectacular," Santarossa said.
Administration is proposing a maximum of two shipping containers allowed per lot.
Ward 5 Councillor Ian Ruston brought up that the municipality is already seeing them used in different places.
"I agree that you don't want a bunch of shipping containers in town, in the urban area, but I also don't like blanket in two that they can only be used for this, have to be back, because there are some uses where where they are very nice, so how could we take a balanced approach I guess with that," Ruston said.
Council instructed administration to hold public consultations prior to drafting a bylaw amendment, and bring a report back with their findings.
Mayor Tracey Bailey was opposed.
A date for consultations has not yet been set.