Shipping containers as affordable housing units were proposed. Pushback followed.

How Corpus Christi approaches a proposal to use shipping containers for affordable housing may set a precedent citywide.

The concept proposed by developer Bryan Johnson would employ steel shipping containers to construct 30 new, additional living units on a plot in Flour Bluff currently occupied with five manufactured homes.

The intent would be to make available low-cost living options for senior citizens and veterans.

The City Council last week approved a rezoning for the property that would enable the development, not the development itself – but several officials said Tuesday before the final approval that they had been unaware at the time that a chief component in construction of the units would be steel shipping containers.

Development Services Director Al Raymond noted that the vote wasn’t for Johnson’s proposal – however, he added, shipping containers have increasingly been utilized for other purposes as technology has advanced, including for housing.

City Councilman Mike Pusley lambasted the concept, describing appropriate alternate uses of shipping containers as conversion for spaces such as offices or hunting cabins – or, as he said he has used them, for storage of deer corn.

But use as a residence is not acceptable, Pusley said.

“What we are saying here is we’re going to put elderly low-income people in shipping containers,” he said. “And I just think the optics of that for this city is horrible.”

The council needs to “have a clear understanding of where this is going to lead us,” he added – including whether that may mean moving shipping containers into established neighborhoods.

“This is a major step forward,” he told Raymond. “This not just about one development – this is about spreading this across the city of Corpus Christi, and we need to decide whether or not that’s going to be appropriate for what we’re going to do for future expansion.”

It would ultimately come down to a policy choice, said City Manager Peter Zanoni.

What can be built

The city currently has a code for shipping container homes that mirrors Texas’ statute for industrialized housing, said planning manager Andrew Dimas.

It stipulates that for residential use, the containers must have a compatible look to existing development within 500 feet –matching “the character as the rest of the neighborhood,” he said.

The guidelines also state that the container be the same median taxable value of improvements within 500 feet, Dimas added – a way to safeguard against “dropping a box in the middle of a neighborhood.”

Construction plans, like other structures, would also need to meet the city’s codes, Raymond said.

The department generally seeks “different avenues for housing options, and this was a great avenue that we considered for housing options,” he said.

“We should give innovation a chance before we say no,” Raymond said.

What it may look like

The housing style has gained footing in recent years as a more financially attainable option amid an uptick in rental and housing prices.

In Corpus Christi, likely the most well-known of the alternative uses is the colorful stacked shipping containers that house the popular coffee shop Island Joe’s, although officials say there are a few existing homes in Flour Bluff that employ the design.

The look isn’t necessarily that of a steel shipping container, said City Councilman Everett Roy.

“Not everybody’s seen some of these container homes,” he said. “Some of them you’d never even know it was a container home if somebody didn’t tell you that.”

Some people, too, find shipping containers appealing, said City Councilman Roland Barrera, describing it as a decision that would be steered by the market.

“I understand we don’t want it to seem like we’re putting elderly people that are disadvantaged into a shipping container until we show what one looks like and how nice they might be,” he said.

It should be a market decision, Johnson said, adding that the aim is to help meet a need.

“We’re trying to get affordable housing,” he told the council. “This is a creative way to do it.”

City Councilwoman Sylvia Campos praised the proposal as an innovative approach to affordable living options for senior residents.

It would be worth exploring, also, to consider whether plans may adapted to accommodating the city’s homeless population, she added.

“Maybe in a future endeavor… another developer could possibly look into this and see if we can do a community similar to that,” Campos said.

In the final approval, Pusley cast a dissenting vote.

He cited as a significant sticking point as the rezoning of the property not reflecting Flour Bluff’s area development plans.

The city spends a substantial sum in crafting the documents, Pusley said, and then disregards the guidelines by rezoning properties.

“We continually… rip a page out of those development plans and throw it away and say, ‘Well, we weren’t supposed to do it this way but we think it sounds like a really good idea,’” he said.

It’s anticipated the staff will put together an analysis of the frequency that area development plans are amended through rezonings.

More: Proposed low-cost housing for seniors would employ steel shipping containers

More: Affordable housing proposals are on the table. This is what the city supported.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Proposed shipping containers for affordable housing sees opposition