Grants Pass council amends transitional-housing code to allow intermodal container units amid safety concerns

Grants Pass City Council on Monday approved a resolution to amend the city's transitional-housing standard to allow intermodal shipping containers as an allowable type of transitional-housing unit, a change tied to a $1,170,000 contract with Elk Island Trading Company.

Bradley Clark, community development staff, told the council the change is a text amendment to the city's Title 9 transitional-housing code originally adopted in 2020 to accommodate nonstandard units such as those used for Foundry Village. Clark said the amendment adds an industry-standard definition for an "intermodal shipping container," adjusts the definition of a transitional-housing unit to permit attached rooms within a container, and creates new technical standards for interior finishes, insulation values and fire separation.

"This amendment would allow the Connex-box design Elk Island proposed to be considered under our local standards," Clark said, noting that electrical and plumbing remain…