A shipping container that's been dressed up to look like a house has caused a stir in one of Hamilton’s wealthiest suburbs.
Flagstaff landowner David Yzendoorn plonked the Cosco container on his oddly shaped section in June this year after a long-running battle with the Hamilton City Council over what he can build there.
The structure, which he is calling “public art”, has evolved in the last few months and now includes a front door, window frames, pavers leading up to it, a letterbox and a well-placed sofa to enjoy the view. Several signs have been stuck to it that read: “Hamilton has a housing shortage”, while another tells people not to trespass.
Yzendoorn told OneRoof: “The container as a tiny home is representative of New Zealanders who do not have a decent, affordable home. This is a serviced section, which still cannot be approved and the container house hopefully is an interim use while we wait.”
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Hamilton City Council confirmed it had received four complaints from residents in Flagstaff about the container on the 1716sqm sloping section, which is sandwiched between a road and a man-made pond on Petersburg Drive.
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Hamilton City Council planning and guidance unit manager Grant Kettle said the council initially considered the shipping container to be a new building requiring a resource consent under the District Plan and requested the structure be removed at the end of June because it did not comply with the rules.
But when the landowner told council it was not a building but public art created from a shipping container, the council’s monitoring and compliance team launched an investigation more than two months ago into whether the structure fitted its criteria and was permissible under the district plan.
Kettle could not give a timeframe on when an outcome from the investigation was to be expected, initially telling OneRoof it would be “as soon as possible”. However when further pressed he said he hoped there would be a resolution this week.
“There is no set timeframe to resolve matters like this. To be fair to all parties, this process can take time to ensure proper consideration is given and all legal processes are followed.”
The Petersburg Drive section has a road on one side of it and a stream and gully on the other side. Photo / OneRoof
If the structure is found to not comply with the definition of public art and the property owner fails to remove it then an abatement notice could be issued, he said.
The arrival of the shipping container art stemmed from Yzendoorn’s frustrations with the council over a five-year period as he attempted to build something on his sloping section on Petersburg Drive.
Yzendoorn said the land should never have been rezoned from being residential to natural open spaces, but the council refused to reverse the change made in 2012. He is now faced with having to apply for resource consent to build on his land because residential development is not a permitted activity in this zone.
“Basically we feel they are trying to box us into not being able to use our land in any way, shape or form. The real thing we want to do is build an attractive duplex home on land we own.
“It is a beautiful site we love, with good neighbours, which we aim to make more lovely with a quality house build.”
Only a small part of the 1716sqm Petersburg Drive section, positioned between a road and stream, is flat with the rest sloping down into the bushy hill. Photo / Google Maps
In August 2020, Yzendoorn put in a resource consent application to build a two-storey duplex in the open space zone.
There were four submissions from neighbours objecting to the application over concerns about flooding and slippage, creating more congestion and hazards on an already narrow street and obstructing the road view, as well as the views from their property out to the gully.
The application was initially due to be heard by an independent commissioner in February and after several delays is now set for the end of September. A decision on whether the duplex can then be built will be made following the hearing.
Yzendoorn said he felt like they were stuck in a washing machine going round and round.
“To be honest we are very much over the resource consent for this property. People I have talked to say it must be one of the most scrutinised resource consents ever.”
Kettle said the reason for the length of time between the original application, submissions and hearing dates was due to a lack of information and relevant assessments provided by the applicant to support the initial application and redesign.
OneRoof records show the property last changed hands in 2017 for $325,000 and it has a current RV of $700,000.
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