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Although Robert Kochgruber is angry, he hasn’t lost his smile.
Sandro ZulianJournalist news
They are popular and highly coveted: Tiny Houses. They offer an economical and practical CO2-neutral life in just 25 m2. Your own little house at an affordable price. Many people around the world are convinced of this.
There are already four houses of this type in Gais AR. Each cost around CHF 315,000. The property is also rented out, albeit for several decades, and costs around 500 francs a month. Unilateral termination is very difficult and notice periods are consequently long. All the buildings, built with wood from the region, have already been sold. The first owners will be moving in the next few weeks.
The architect of these houses is Robert Kochgruber (63). He drew inspiration from traveling in a mobile home: “I suddenly realized that I really didn’t need any more space.” After the success of the project in Gais, Kochgruber tasted blood. Several projects are planned in Switzerland. This is also the case with Balgach SG in the Rhine Valley. But there Kochgruber bites into the granite.
“A Misunderstanding”
The dispute with the Municipality began with the urbanization request. Kochgruber received a short response to this in November 2021, which Blick has. He says: he had submitted “incomplete documents”.
He does not have. The community has not responded to Kochgruber’s response. 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 was obviously a misunderstanding here,” writes the interim administrator. Obviously 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 six months it was either not communicated at all or then it was only communicated verbally. Eventually, Kochgruber had to learn from three corners that the city council was apparently unanimous against his plan. And this despite the fact that the landowner himself is enthusiastic about the project. There were never any objections to his plan.
If the road isn’t drawn, it doesn’t exist
The lot on which the tiny houses are designed can be reached via two paved roads. But that’s not enough for the community. As one of the roads is not marked in the official survey plan, it doesn’t officially exist. The community calls it a ghost road. Kochgruber is said to have had a third access road built at his own expense. “I can’t believe a community that claims to be an ‘energy city’ is so resistant to our project,” he laments.
Other than fewer paragraphs from the community, he really only wants one thing: “Just do your job and let common sense prevail!” The case for the tiny houses is now, after Kochgruber’s objection, the canton of St. Gallen. The canton, as well as the municipality of Balgach, declined to comment on Blick’s “proceedings in progress”. However, the landowner is ready for anything, says Kochgruber: “If necessary, he goes to the federal housing court.”
