In the meeting councilor Van Nett explained AIM-Twin Ports intention to set up yurts for homeless people with OR WITHOUT city permission. Perhaps most surprisingly, councilor Medved endorsed this direct action!
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=858816537495509&story_fbid=3726746704035797
I called up a "planner" in Duluth yesterday. I said "Does a Wall Tent with a frame inside it need a permit?" He said, "You mean a yurt"? (I didn't mean that but I said yes to humor him). He said: Yes. So then I hang up and think something strange is going on. So I looked up yurt for St. Louis County and turns out that 35 tents were camped outside Duluth government buildings - to protest the 250 people sleeping outside homeless. And the one Native American person on City Council - she declared that she now has a Yurt in her backyard and she talked to the Mayor and she is going ahead whether she has "permission" or not. She said she's working with the local AIM chapter - and they're creating a Pilot Yurt program for the homeless and that Native indians lived here for a very long time before FIRST CONTACT and they knew how to house themselves and that people are Dying from the cold outside. Wow - pretty awesome! I had no idea I had stepped into a mini-yurt revolution.
In the meeting councilor Van Nett explained AIM-Twin Ports intention to set up yurts for homeless people with OR WITHOUT city permission. Perhaps most surprisingly, councilor Medved endorsed this direct action!
This is very cool. Yurts are actually NOT structures if they do NOT have foundations.
The majority of the time, yurts are not considered permanent structures, rather they are a temporary structure or a tent. In most areas, yurts with foundations would be classified as a permanent structure.
Because the International Residential Code, which is the bases for most local building codes in the United States, only requires building permits for structures with 200 sqft or more of floor area, most permanent yurts would not need a building permit. However, that determination falls on to the county building officials in most jurisdictions, so you would need to contact the county building department to determine what paperwork is necessary in your area.
Now she and other advocates are calling on the City of Duluth and St. Louis County to end evictions of homeless camps until warming centers open, fund the centers 24 hours/day, increase access to hygiene facilities year-round, and invest in low-income housing developments.
"Make this known as a real issue that we won't be a city that just leaves our folks out here to die, but a city that's going to care for our most vulnerable, and a city that will stand for what is right," said Loaves and Fishes member Shelly Bruecken.
To help get their message across, they pitched around 30 tents outside of Duluth City Hall to represent the growing number of Duluthians sleeping outside in sub-zero temperatures.
Some advocates including Standingbear Helgerson plan to stay there overnight until Tuesday morning's St. Louis County Board meeting.
She and the American Indian Movement-Twin Ports are also putting together a proposal to what they hope is a permanent solution to end homelessness.
"We want to build yurts, and house some of these people," said Standingbear Helgerson.
Advocates want it to be known that homelessness is something that can happen to anyone.
"A lot of us are one paycheck away, and there's just a variety of folks that can experience homelessness. It's not just a certain group of people, and it's really important we stop characterizing people and just start helping them," said Bruecken.
Bruecken encourages Duluthians to reach out to the city as well as councilors to further advocate for the cause.
Hey Folks! People wanted an update! We have around 35 tents and many sleeping bags that have been donated! We used many of these for our action outside of city hall and now have been passed out to folks living outside.
We will continue to collect tents and give them out as needed. It can be this winter or the spring. We will also continue to push for further resources other than tents through the winter.
Thank you for continuing to support the work we do and we will continue to be good stewards of these donations and push for greater change throughout the city!
you can listen to testimony from the occupation (starting at 2:08:50) as well as the 45 minute discussion it prompted among councilors at the end of the (2:40:59).
The "discussion" is not included in the city meeting notes. haha.
Duluth City Councilor said she works with the American Indian Movement and she's hosting a Yurt in her backyard and she's starting a Yurt Pilot Program....
I'm part of the American Indian Movement...We've taken it upon ourselves to do something about it. We've lived here Many Many Years BEFORE FIRST CONTACT. ..We've started working with a Yurt Community...I'm hosting a Yurt in my backyard. I realize I'm putting myself on the line by going at something unconventionally. I need to take the steps that need to be taken even if it's risky. ... Being it's an indigenous focus it's not exclusive to us. We want everyone to be alive, be warm...We can do better. ..We need buy in...We're just working it carefully...As leaders of this town I would love for you to come aboard and figure this out and have discussion - if not even. IF NOT EVEN...Homeless people are freezing and drying...
It's in my yard. I've know we've had a discussion with the administration and the Mayor. We let her know While we would love her support we're not asking. Cuz Homeless People are freezing and dying. Period. And Freezing. While we would love the relationship? Things are going to happen and we're going to do it. Sorry to be HARD about that and talk hard about these things but people freezing every day that's hard and I'm not willing to put up with it. We are thinking outside the box. We are past it. We are already tired of it. We are sick of it. I'm ok. We're good.
So the issue here is that a Tent or RV are not considered "structures" since they can be MOVED whereas a Yurt on a foundation can NOT be moved...
Temporary dwellings. The use and occupancy of a tent, recreational vehicle or other temporary dwelling for the purpose of living quarters is not permitted in any district except as provided for herein. This prohibition does not include the use of tents or recreational vehicles for camping for periods not exceeding fourteen (14) consecutive days
So you can stay in a tent or RV for up to 14 days since they can be MOVED but you can not use a "temporary dwelling" that is NOT a tent or an RV (i.e. a yurt or shed would be a STRUCTURE) and so needs a "dwelling" land use permit.
Additional occupancy by use of recreational vehicles, tents, accessory structures, garages, boathouses, pole barns, sheds, fish houses, or similar structure is not permitted.
This was just passed as the county "short term" rental ordinance.
So a "temporary structure" COULD be used as a "warming house"....
I had never used the term "warming house" so much except only for ice skating!!
Seasonal Recreational Cottage: A one-family dwelling or travel trailer intended for seasonal or temporary occupancy only, and not as a year-round family residence. The occupants must maintain a permanent legal residence elsewhere to have the dwelling or travel trailer qualify as seasonal or temporary
What is a permanent tent called?
Yurt ( a word derived from the Mongolian word “urts” which mean tent, shelter, dwelling or hut. ... Modern yurts may be permanently built on a wooden platform;
Another big proposition Monday: using federal CARES Act funding to create a long-term warming center and 24/7 hygiene facility for families experiencing homelessness in Duluth.
Councilors are considering the Lincoln Park Community Center as a possible location.
They said Duluth has a homeless problem and access to hygiene facilities is the most important thing to help people get back on their feet.
The emergency warming center resolution also passed unanimously.
Councilor Roz Randorf said it will take a few months to apply and get approved for the funding. They will be touring the Lincoln Park facility on Friday.
My Cabin Tent does NOT have a floor.
Another "cabin tent" example.
JAMES GANN. Deposition made Dec. 14, 1896. War Pension Application. My
name is JAMES GANN. I am past 80 years of age. Have been farm hand and
farmer from boyhood til broken down by age. I never learned to read or
write. I live in a "cabin-tent" with my Son Jr. and his family near
Elvins post office in this St. Francois County, Missouri. I volunteered
when about 19 years of age in 1836 in the U.S. Army at Chatanooga,
Tennessee to quiet and remove Cherokee Indians.
“Any structure will require a building permit,” he added, “but it all depends on what you convey to the permit office. There are creative loopholes. Call it a workshop, a barn or a shed.” With agricultural-type outbuildings, there’s no requirement for plumbing or winterizing. But if anyone is ever going to sleep there, common sense requires at least a smoke detector.For other second-home owners, though, rough or rustic spaces are good enough. Converted garages, sheds and even parts of barns are often used to house guests at second homes in rural areas.In Sullivan County, N.Y., home to some of the most popular destinations in the Catskills and where it’s estimated that a quarter of the 100,000 residences are second homes, Dr. William J. Pammer Jr., the county commissioner for planning and community development, sees ways for people to build bunkhouses — often seasonal structures without insulation, heating or plumbing — even against the wishes of local governments.
OK so all I had to do is apply for a Bunkhouse Accessory structure permit. Then I can still get a street address but I do not need a septic permit.
It's an "accessory structure" but since it's a farm then I do not need a principal structure. It's the Primary structure but not the principal structure.
The Bunkhouse brings so many possibilities for you to create your own space. This building can be used as a bunkhouse for the kids, a guest cabin, a home office or studio, a playhouse, or whatever else you can dream up.
https://www.northwoodoutdoor.com/cabins/bunkhouse/
BUNKHOUSE. Residential accessory structure used for sleeping quarters with no sanitation, cooking facilities or water under pressure.
(1) "bunkhouse" means a building, structure, or enclosure intended to sleep more than one person for up to three nights that does not include a kitchen or bathroom; and
(2) "camper cabin" means a permanent rustic enclosure with walls and a floor that does not include a kitchen or bath;
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/144.12
A parcel must contain a principal dwelling before a bunkhouse can be authorized. ...
Pop-Up Tents No S’more: Glamping Is the New Backyard Camping
Homeowners are putting up tricked-out tents on their properties to help them unplug or to use as glorified guesthouses
https://www.sweetwaterbungalows.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Glamping-WSJ-2019.pdf
Unlike bricks-and-mortar guesthouses and studios, tents tend to be classed as temporary structures—a plus when dealing with local zoning issues.
July 11, 2019.
So even according to the Wall Street Journal - an internal frame canvas tent does not need a permit!!
Although regulations vary with each municipality, tents that average 200 square feet or less generally don’t require building permits.
326B.121 STATE BUILDING CODE; APPLICATION AND ENFORCEMENT.
Subdivision 1.Application.
(a) The State Building Code is the standard that applies statewide for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, and use of buildings and other structures of the type governed by the code.
(b) The State Building Code supersedes the building code of any municipality.
(c) The State Building Code does not apply to agricultural buildings except:
A performance standard permit is authorization given for the continuation, improvement or replacement of a nonconforming structure
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