1/16
Although Robert Kochgruber is angry, he has not lost his smile.
Sandro Zulianreporter news
They are popular and highly coveted: Tiny Houses. They offer an economical, practical CO2-neutral life in just 25 square meters. Your own little house at an affordable price. Many people around the world are convinced of this.
There are already four such houses in Gais AR. They each cost around CHF 315,000. The property is also rented, albeit for several decades, and costs around 500 francs a month. Unilateral termination is very difficult, and the notice periods are correspondingly long. All of the constructs, built with wood from the region, have already been sold. The first owners will move in in the next few weeks.
The architect of these houses is Robert Kochgruber (63). He got his inspiration from traveling in a mobile home: “All of a sudden I realized that I actually didn’t need any more space.” After the successful project in Gais, Kochgruber tasted blood. Several projects in Switzerland are planned. This is also the case in Balgach SG in the Rhine Valley. But there Kochgruber bites on granite.
“A misunderstanding”
The quarrel with the municipality began with the planning application. Kochgruber received a brief answer to this in November 2021, which Blick has. It says: He had submitted “incomplete documents”.
He does not have. The community did not respond to Kochgruber’s reply. Until he hired a lawyer. Almost three months after the building application, the response from the municipality: “Due to personnel changes in the building administration, there has obviously been a misunderstanding here,” writes the manager ad interim. Of course, the documents were complete.
“After that I thought: Yes, now we can finally start!” says Kochgruber. But again the community gave him the cold shoulder and didn’t get in touch. For more than half a year, it was either not communicated at all or then only communicated verbally. Ultimately, Kochgruber had to learn from three corners that the municipal council was apparently unanimous against his project. And that despite the fact that the landowner himself is enthusiastic about the project. There were never any objections to his project.
If the street is not drawn, it does not exist
The plot on which the tiny houses are planned can be reached via two paved roads. But that’s not enough for the community. Because one of the streets is not marked in the official survey plan, it does not officially exist. The community calls it a phantom street. Kochgruber is said to have a third access road built at his own expense. “I can’t believe that a community that claims to be an ‘energy city’ is so resistant to our project,” he complains.
In addition to less paragraph-riding on the part of the community, he really only wants one thing: “Just do your job and let common sense prevail!” The case of the tiny houses is now, after Kochgruber’s objection, with the canton of St. Gallen. The canton, as well as the municipality of Balgach, did not want to comment on Blick’s “ongoing proceedings”. However, the landowner is ready for anything, says Kochgruber: “If need be, he goes to the federal court for the houses.”