Letter to Islands Trust Concerning Policy Change Proposal
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July 9th, 2024
Islands Trust
Local Gabriola Island Trust Committee
700 North Road, Gabriola Island
BC, V0R 1X3
Via e-mail (and mail) to GabriolaIslandLocalTrustCommittee@islandstrust.bc.ca
Attention; Local Trust Committee Members Trustee Mr. Peter Luckman, Chair Trustee Ms. Susan Yates Trustee Ms. Tobi Elliot
RE: Proposed “Gabriola Island Local Trust Committee Bylaw Compliance & Enforcement Policy Revisions” Revisions
On behalf of the residents of Mudge Island and The Mudge Island Community Association we would like to thank you for considering our letter of June 7, 2024, and listening to members of MICA and the community address the LTC on June 27th, 2024. We believe this to be a positive step relative to the situation on Mudge Island and the recent rash of Bylaw infraction notification letters. The community and MICA look forward to collaborating and developing a positive working relationship with the LTC and staff and moving forward with the creation of new Bylaw enforcement Policies. As we likely agree, these new Policies are a much needed first step to assist in addressing the noncompliance situations within the Mudge community and will undoubtedly form the cornerstone criteria to modifying actual LU Bylaws in the future.
As discussed, on June 27th LTC meeting, we are attaching a clean and marked copy of our suggested revisions to the proposed enforcement policy. These revisions are the result of significant community consultation, community member input, and deliberation within our committee capturing common themes and concerns from island property owners. We intentionally made targeted changes only, rather than wholesale revisions.
MICA appreciates and supports the efforts of compliance staff to formalize an enforcement policy for the Gabriola area and Mudge Island in particular. Without the policy, the current complaint system is open to abuse. Complaints can be made by anyone, with any motive, from anywhere, at any time. The sheer number and nature of the current complaints on Mudge suggests that there is an organized campaign that is exploiting the weaknesses of the current system. This campaign has resulted in enormous anxiety in the community, not only among the targets of the complaints, but also those who fear they will be next. The proposed changes, while helpful and sensible, do not assist in addressing the current spate of complaints on Mudge Island and will not measurably assist in reducing the number of enforcement actions. Our targeted suggestions would effectively reduce the number of complaints to those which are adversely impacting the community or certain of its members and which we as a community want to see enforced.
Mudge Island is a unique community. It is a remote island, accessible only by private boat. It was subdivided in the early 1970's, prior to the advent of the Islands Trust, mostly into tiny, half acre lots. There are no stores or other amenities. We haul in our groceries and fuel and haul out our garbage. We need to travel to Gabriola or Nanaimo for supplies, medical care and education for our children. We often can't get qualified service people to come to the island to assist with construction or other projects. When we can bring them over, we often must put them up while they complete their work. As a result, we have had to develop a community where we act together to support each other and our way of life. A great example of this is the MICS Hall, where the community got together to fund the acquisition of the land and equipment and construction of the building, and through community volunteers, provides emergency medical evacuation and fire services and provides regular training to the community on the use of the vehicles and equipment. Other examples are sharing barges, and sharing the cost of services for multiple residents, such as well drilling, chimney cleaning or septic pumping.
Another aspect of the island is that we have been largely left alone. While we pay taxes to the RDN, we receive minimal on-island services. We have historically received no real oversight from government at all, whether it is the Province, Islands Trust, the RDN or otherwise. While we are subject to land use bylaws, we have had little input into them and are forced to live with bylaws which are out of touch with the reality of life on Mudge. Practically every property on Mudge is non-compliant with the bylaws in some respect, which makes all of us easy targets and which has resulted in a stressful community situation.
MICA has been given access to the response to a Freedom of Information request made by a community member which includes all the recent complaints. From it, we have compiled some aggregate data to analyze the recent complaints. It indicates that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of bylaw compliance complaints in 2024 (see attached graphs) and a shift in the types of complaint. There have been 58 complaint emails (with a total of 132 separate complaints) between January and April 2024. The use of the same wording in the complaint emails and date stamps suggests that two individuals residing on or familiar with Mudge may have made all the 2024 complaints. While the requirement in the proposed enforcement policy that there be complaints by two Mudge residents is helpful, it should go farther to require that at least one of them is a neighbor and is adversely affected by the alleged contravention. This will curtail the 'drive by' nature of the current complaints and is consistent with the best practices guide for local governments published by the BC Ombudsperson. We also suggest that the 'neighbor' must be within 100 meters of the subject property. This is to protect the anonymity of the complainant, as a requirement for the complaint to be made by an adjacent neighbor would make it too easy to identify the complainant.
In addition to the attached, other significant changes that we are requesting are to defer enforcement until the Mudge land use bylaws can be reviewed and be reconsidered. Some of the Bylaws that need to be revised include:
• Ocean setbacks. Mudge is unique among the Gulf Islands in requiring a setback of 30 meters. It is not distinguishable from Gabriola (where the required setback is 7.5 meters) on a geological or geotechnical basis, or other islands in the DeCourcy Group and, given the very small lot sizes, 30 meters is inappropriate. Similarly, there are a significant number of complaints related to decks, stairs and structures within the setback limits which are arguably non-environmentally contentious, visually non detrimental, and are in keeping with what the community generally feels are reasonable and should be considered for revision within the current bylaw.
• Lot coverage. Again, the 10% lot coverage restriction is inappropriate, given the very small lot sizes. On a half-acre lot, this allows for a maximum ~2,200 square footprint for dwelling, deck and outbuildings etc.
• Mooring buoys. As a remote island without a public dock, a restriction on mooring buoys is particularly inappropriate and unreasonable. The fact that barge landings and docks are permitted is of little help to those with upland (non-waterfront) properties or those without the money and time to acquire the permits and build them. While restrictions on number (two per property) and ownership (property owners only) of mooring buoys are appropriate, an absolute ban is not.
• Home occupation. As a remote island, we rely on local trades, including mechanics, electricians, carpenters, tree fallers, excavators, scissor lift and other heavy equipment operators.
These are all matters which the community requires an amendment to the existing bylaws and should not be the subject of enforcement until they can be fully reviewed with input from the Mudge community. The community supports continued investigation and enforcement of derelict buildings, trailers and vehicles, health and safety concerns, interference with cultural heritage sites or possible environmental damage.
We thank you for your time and the opportunity to make this submission.
Yours truly,
Mudge Island Community Association (MICA)
Rich Brooks, Chairman
604-644-2097
cc: Jon McCullough, Vice Chair mica.jmccullough@gmail.com
Susanne Jakobsen, Secretary micasusanne@gmail.com
Nigel Stoodley, IT Administrator mica.nigelr@gamil.com
Scott Flemming, Communications micaflemming1@gmail.com
Chad Giesbrecht, chitto1234@hotmail.com
Mike Bonneville micamikeb@gmail.com
The Mudge Island Community Association acknowledges that Mudge Island is traditional territory of many First Nations, including the Coast Salish peoples and the Hul'qumi'num speaking Nations. We are grateful to have the opportunity to live, learn, work and play in their traditional and unceded territories.
