Anchored at Severn Marina in rural southern Ontario are two 53-foot-long shipping containers. They are Joe Nimens’ home, and the model for the year-round floating cottages he would like to build.
“It’s our prototype and it’s starting to look beautiful on the inside,” said Nimens, speaking to CBC from inside the houseboat.
“It’s not nice on the outside because we’re not done yet,” he said. “And we had to start somewhere.”
Nimens says construction began a little more than two years ago and moved shortly after. He threw the structure in the water for the first time about 18 months ago.
Nimens spoke to CBC News from inside the houseboat he built out of two shipping containers. (CBC News)
But the structure is drawing the ire of some local residents in this community about 160 kilometers north of Toronto, who are expressing concerns about the safety of having the floating structures in waterways and their effect on the environment environment Also at issue is the fact that the shipping container home is designated a “vessel” by Transport Canada, meaning the structure is not governed by Ontario’s building code or permits, and as as such, it is not subject to municipal zoning, which means local governments can’t really do anything to regulate them.
bottom of the lake
Nimens maintains that he is not breaking any rules.
He is now manufacturing four houseboats for sale and says he is continuing with a plan to build more.
Unlike houseboats, which have motors and can navigate themselves across bodies of water, these floating containers cannot move on their own and must be towed, a reality that some residents said was a concern of security.
They are also different from other houseboats that are permanently moored to a marina and connected to a septic system and other utilities.
Peter Koetsier, mayor of the adjacent municipality of Georgian Bay, says he has heard “a lot of concern” from his local residents about the structures.
Those concerns, he says, range from the environmental impact of the Styrofoam, which covers the bottom of the Nimens house, to the structures’ wastewater management.
“They’re very concerned about water quality, including the flotation that’s breaking down… We’re concerned about gray water and black water. We’re concerned about their use of the land and the areas around us without follow none of the rules,” Koetsier told CBC Toronto.
Nimen’s floating cottage has spikes, large steel poles that drop down and anchor it to the bottom of the lake when in the water. As a vessel, you are allowed to anchor on Crown land for free for up to 21 days.
Peter Koetsier is the mayor of the municipality of Georgian Bay. He says he’s heard a lot of concerns from residents about the new type of houseboat. (Alexis Raymon/CBC News)
Koetsier says he has heard concerns about possible damage to the lake beds. While lake bottoms are managed by the province, your municipality specifically has zoning bylaws that give it the authority to restrict what people can build on the lake bottom, such as docks or boat sheds.
“So this particular structure as a lodge on the bottom of our lake is against our local bylaws. Unfortunately, we also have to go and work together with the federal government, which controls the waters and rules around the ships,” Koetsier said.
“We believe they should be subject to … all local community bylaws, subject to local property taxes that we will pay for any emergency services they may require.”
An alternate angle of Nimens’ home, which includes a deck, as shown on his company’s website. (Lotb.ca)
In Severn Township, Mayor Mike Burkett shares that view.
“The federal government has considered them a vessel. Our hands are tied. There’s nothing we can do,” Burkett told CBC News, adding that he hopes all three levels of government can address these issues collectively.
“We all have to work together. They are not listening to our concerns.”
View of the farmhouses
Some cottagers are also expressing environmental and safety concerns.
“Right now there’s nothing that says how they have to be built, what it is, what their electrical systems are, what their plumbing system is like, what kind of building codes they have to have,” said Cheryl Elliot-Fraser , president of the Gloucester Pool Cottagers Association.
“That’s a big concern because if these move to any other lake, how do we know they’re safe to be there?”
Cheryl Elliot-Fraser, president of the Gloucester Pool Cottagers Association, pictured across from Nimens houseboat. (Alexis Raymon/CBC News)
This time of year the Trent-Severn waterway is quiet, but cottager Dianne Bonnell says come summer, it’s full of boats. In addition to the potential environmental concerns raised, she is concerned about the safety of the structure itself, which has no way of navigating on its own.
“If something were to happen and the dust comes off the floor or the lake bed, it’s going to float and there’s no way it’s going to avoid other boaters,” Bonnell said.
The head of the Georgian Bay Association says with climate change bringing more variable weather to the area, safety is a real concern among many residents.
“The fact that these units are not seaworthy … not very stable in any kind of wind or wave action is a concern,” said Rupert Kindersley, a spokesman for the association.
Dianne Bonnell has been part of the local community for decades and has concerns about the new type of floating shipping containers at home. (Alexis Raymon/CBC News)
Another source of frustration, Bonnell says, is how difficult it is for farmers to get permits to build docks or boathouses, and yet these container structures can simply be placed in the water.
“If this double standard is perpetuated, it will create a problem among those who are trying to comply with the rules and regulations,” Bonnell said.
Designation of the vessel
In a statement to CBC News, Transport Canada said, “Although most floating accommodations are not designed as a typical vessel with propulsion or engines, they are considered vessels, just like boats.”
The agency confirmed that the Nimens structure meets its definition of a “vessel” and that department officials have inspected it after locals raised concerns. He said that because it is a pleasure boat it does not require formal approval from Transport Canada; however, he stated that it is the owner’s responsibility to ensure that the vessel complies with all applicable regulatory requirements.
Transport Canada also said it is up to each municipality to decide whether they want to apply municipal regulations.
But a member of the National Recreational Boating Advisory Council questions how Transport Canada grants boat designations.
“The process by which the license is granted is perhaps a little too lax in these circumstances,” said Peter Frost, who sits on the board that advises Transport Canada on issues related to the safety of recreational boaters.
“They don’t seem to be easily maneuverable and sometimes have to be effectively pulled or pushed by a tug, which seems to take them out of the category of being real ships again in my mind.”
A sign outside where Nimens is building four more houseboats in Severn, Ont. (CBC)
As for Nimens, he says any future houseboats he builds will use wrapped Styrofoam to address one of the environmental concerns raised by area residents. As for waste, it says it has a built-in incinerator toilet; as gray water enters the lake, he says he’s working to buy self-contained green septic tanks made in B.C.
Nimens maintains that his houses are more sustainable than traditional ones because they do not involve digging up earth, disturbing the coast or cutting down any trees.
As for the outcry from two local mayors and some residents, he said he hopes they will sit down with him and have a conversation.
“Anyone who’s upset or wants to talk to us about it, we’re more than happy to talk about what we’re doing.”