Come Support the Policy Adoption November 7th

After months of work we are at the have, what we believe is an effective Bylaw and Compliance Policy for Mudge Island. We need the community to come to the Gabriola Island Islands Trust office on November 7th to support the adoption of this policy and to positively advocate for 1 last option as is outlined in the letter to the Trustees at the bottom of this post.

I have attached a copy of the staff report for you to review, Please take a few minutes to read this. While the Trust Staff have not taken our suggested ammendments that we shared with the community in July verbatim, they have incorporated those concepts into this version and for the large part achieved the goals that we had in our submission.

Comments and selected observations on this policy:  

1) We have a definition of vexatious complaints that allows bylaw compliance and enforment to not act on frivolous, repeat or vexatious complaints. While there is no process defined, it does allow for that to be defined in the future.

2) With the exception of health, safety ,..., ect, we will maintain non the enforcement of complaints until the land use bylaws are addressed. 

3) Complaints The proposed policy requires two people from seperate properties in the immediate neighborhood to submit most land use complaints that are not a safety, health or significant environment concern. The complainant also should indicate how the contravention is a nuisance or has an effect on the community. 4) Primary Use

• Clarification that primary use can be horticulture/agriculture. as a result buildings could be auxiliary to that purpose as long as they conform to the requirements for auxillary buildings.

• Adjacent properties by same owner only one needs a compliant primary usage

5) Inspections

• Policies reducing the dependance on on site inspections and narrowing their scope to contrventions outlined in the complaint notification letter.

• 30 days notice for site inspections

  
  

5) Older Structures

There is a clause that as long as there are no additions adding to the contravention , contraventions houses over 25 years will not be enforced. While this is good, it does leave a lot of of properties behind. We asked for something closer to when the Mudge Bylaws were first proposed and that became a 20 year option. We understand that the community would like to put this whole chapter behind us and are thereforew advocating for this to be expanded and applied to all structures prior to the signing of the bylaw.   This is an aggressive goal but hopefully the Islands Trust sees it the same way and we move forward.

Islands Trust and Mica believes that these changes should address the situation on Mudge and curtail it from happening again. This shoiuld be seen as a big benefit for the community and now we have the opportunity to address the bylaws to be more reflective of the community, which should be the next step.

Mudge Island Community Association

Here is MICA's letter of support sent to the Trustees and Bylaw staff.

Gabriola Island Local Trust Committee

Peter Luckham, Chair

Tobi Elliott, Trustee

Susan Yates, Trustee

Islands Trust Compliance and Enforcement

Warren Dingman, Manager, Bylaw Enforcement

Dear Trustees and Manager Dingman,

On behalf of the Mudge Island Community Association (MICA), we would like to extend our gratitude to you, the Trustees, and Bylaw Compliance and Enforcement Manager Warren Dingman for your efforts in listening to our concerns and incorporating our feedback into the latest Gabriola and Mudge Island Bylaw Enforcement Policy that is included in the November 7 meeting agenda package.

In addition to the meeting that we had in July on Mudge and September on Gabriola, two MICA Board members had a very productive in person discussion with Manager Dingman in late October. This meeting allowed for the sharing perspectives and alignment on much of the language and concepts reflected in the Mudge Island section of this policy version. We are pleased to see this incorporated in the staff report and proposal and believe the collaboration has strengthened the policy.

We are pleased to provide our endorsement for this submission and hope you will consider approving it. We believe this policy will significantly help to address the current situation on Mudge Island and curtail the potential for individuals to use bylaws against the community in the future.

Looking forward, a targeted review of the Mudge Island Land Use Bylaw is on the shortlist for approval and funding of a minor project. When that time comes, we are eager to collaborate with Islands Trust staff to make necessary amendments to the Land Use Bylaw for Mudge to address some of the unique challenges of Mudge Island, including the combination of very small lots and very restrictive lot coverage allowances and the prohibition of mooring buoys.

While this has been a stressful and challenging time for Mudge Island residents, we can point to some good that has come out of it. The community has pulled together to speak with a unified voice, and there is a new awareness of the specifics of the land use rules, which we believe will lead to heightened compliance in the future.

With this in mind, we would like to offer feedback on one remaining item in the policy: Part B, Section 1.1.2, Limiting Enforcement on Structures. The 25 year exception benefits what may be seen as a privileged few on the island and is therefore potentially divisive. Ideally, we would appreciate the opportunity to make a fresh start for Mudge Island by using the date of the bylaw enforcement policy approval, November 7, 2024, as a bright line for compliance, as opposed to a rolling 25 years. This would recognize that historically, rightly or wrongly, building on Mudge was virtually unregulated and bylaws were rarely enforced, but going forward, new structures are expected to be fully compliant.

Once again, MICA extends our sincere thanks to the staff and Trustees who have dedicated significant time and resources to listening and incorporating our community’s feedback in a spirit of cooperation.

Sincerely,

Mudge Island Community Association

Jon McCullough

Vice Chair