Mudge Island Bylaw Survey

Thank you everyone for participating in the Survey. The Mudge Island Community Association is proud to share the results with you. We have provided the executive summary. If you follow the links in the Executive Summary you will be taken into the doccument and will be able navigate to the detailed analysis of the responses to each question and onward to the comments. The document is pretty large and detailed so while we are providing a link to the PDF version to the document, we recommend that you start by reading the executive summary and follow the links to navigate through the document. Mudge Island Community Bylaw Survey

18 July, 2025

Executive Summary

The Mudge Island Bylaw Survey was designed to help Mudge Island Community Association provide guidance to the Gabriola Island Local Area Trust Committee and Island Trust Planning staff in conducting the targeted review of the Land Use Bylaws of Mudge Island.  

The survey contained questions on specific areas that were identified by MICA through community consultation.  The survey was designed to provide MICA with broad direction guidance for working with the Gabriola Local Trust effectively.  Each question asked for input on direction, and priority and free form comments.  We did not enforce any limits or restrictions on the priorities selection.  So each respondent could have selected more than one question as the highest priority There was an open ended question about any omissions that were not included in the survey. Lastly, the respondent had the opportunity to rate the effectiveness of the survey.

The questions were: 

1. What is your opinion of the current definition of “Structure” in the Mudge Island Bylaws?

2. What is your opinion on the Lot coverages in the Mudge Island Bylaws?

3. What is your opinion on mooring buoys in the Mudge island Bylaws?

4. Three Questions on Home Occupations

4A What is your Opinion on Commercial Vehicles and Heavy Equipment in the Mudge Island Bylaws?

4B What is your Opinion on Short Term Temporary Worker Accommodation? in the Mudge Island Bylaws?

4CWhat is your opinion on Storage of Temporary building supplies in the Mudge Island Bylaws?

5. What is your opinion on the current regulations regarding Structures in the Setback from the Sea in the Mudge Island Bylaws?

6. What is your opinion on the current Setback from the Sea Bylaws in the Mudge Island Bylaws?

7. What is your opinion on the current regulations on Tent Trailer and RV’s  in the Mudge Island Bylaws

8. What items did we omit that are important to you?

The survey was conducted between June 29th and July 13th, 2025.  The invitations were sent to the Mudge Island Community email list and was launched at a town hall on June 29th. There were 2 reminders sent to the community to participate.

Results:

The survey received 165 unique responses that were anonymous.  This represents over 50% of the known Mudge Island residents that were all invited to participate. The survey was anonymous unless the resident identified themself in the textual survey response.  .  

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General Results and Observations

With the exception of two question areas, survey responses show that in general about 10% of residents are comfortable with the current bylaw restrictions and may even support stricter rules in some cases. In contrast, 20% of respondents prefer minimal or no regulation. The majority of Mudge Island residents, however, want more flexibility in how properties are used. Overall, residents support bylaws that preserve the island’s beauty while allowing property owners to enjoy their property in ways that do not unreasonably affect others. 

Based Top Box 2 Rating, the most important issues to the community in priority order are: 

1. Structures in the setback from the sea 

2. Restrictive definition of structure           

3. Moorage Buoys    

4. Lot Coverage                                    

5. Setback from the sea

6. Commercial Vehicles and Heavy Equipment 

7. Tents Trailer, RV’s

8. Temporary Storage of Building Supplies

9. Short Term Workers Accommodation

Based on the Omission question there were some areas that warrant being addressed in the bylaw review as well.  We are aware that not all items in the omissions list are in the jurisdiction of Islands Trust but it would be a great service to the Island and probably many other islands in the Trust area for Islands Trust to work with other governments agencies to provide resources that provide clarity and support to the community. The list of commonly identified omissions or areas of concern not included in the survey are below.  For a detailed summary see the Analysis of Omissions

1. Setbacks on lots between 1 and 5 acres

2. Derelict Vehicles 

3. Expansion of Home Based Businesses

4. Accommodation Off Grid Living

5. Community Access to the Ocean

6. More flexibility in uses of accessory structures and primary use

We think we asked the right questions since all issues were ranked as either high or medium priority.  Overall the survey was well received by the community as 86.7% of the respondents rated it highly.

See Comments on the Survey Feedback

Distribution 

This report will be sent to the Mudge island Community email list, the Local Area Trust Committee, Islands Trust Planning Department and Staff and will be posted on the Mudge Island Community Association Website. The raw survey data in excel format will be shared with Islands Trust Planning Staff if requested.  

Mudge Island Community Association would like to thank the residents of Mudge Island who responded.  This feedback has given us the direction we needed to collaborate with the Gabriola Local Area Trust committee and Island Trust planning on a targeted review of the Mudge Island bylaws.

Respectfully submitted,

Mudge Island Community Association