Consideration for Monday’s Bylaw Update Meeting at Manson’s Hall

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -Cortes Island will have a public meeting on its proposed Bylaw changes on Monday, Sept 8th, 5pm at Manson’s Hall.  “This is a chance for folks to weigh in on the proposed draft. We're really looking at a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision on this zoning bylaw. There's almost two years of community consultation and input, and this is what staff have produced and the best, happy medium for what folks are asking for,” explained Mark Vonesch, Regional Director for Cortes Island. “The public hearing will be a chance for people to express their opinions and their thoughts. Those will get recorded and added to the public record. It’s important that folks show up whether you’re opposed to or in support of this new zoning bylaw. People who show up make the decisions, and this is an opportunity to have your voice heard. If you can’t make the meeting, you can email [email protected] and that will also be included in the public record.” Sadhu Johnston, Executive Director of the Cortes Housing Society, added,  “The Housing Society took a number of positions that we were advocating for with the Regional District.” “The first thing we were advocating for is larger cottages and additional dwelling units on existing properties. There are lots of people on Cortes have a second or third cabin on their land, and they’re out of compliance with the current zoning. That makes people uncertain in their living environments. If you’re renting a cabin from somebody and that cabin is technically illegal, that creates insecurity. Many people on Cortes rely on that type of housing. “The Housing Society was encouraging what used to be called cottages in the zoning bylaw. They were only 60 square meters — about 500 square feet and really too small for a family to live in - as a second house on a property. We were encouraging for that to be bigger and the SRD has made that change. Now that secondary unit, the accessory dwelling unit (ADU), can be 110 square meters.” “The new density rules allow for multiple dwelling units on a single lot. Depending on the zoning type, more than one ADU is now permitted. That can provide passive income for island property owners, and also create additional rental units. These can’t be subdivided or sold, so by nature they provide important rental housing. This proposed bylaw really addressed our concern about larger cottages and additional dwelling units on existing land. “I think the best opportunity for us to get more housing on Cortes is not to build up in the northern part if the island or to develop new sites, but to use properties that already have houses, driveways, electricity, septic, and wells — and enable them to add one or more additional homes. “The previous bylaw had a maximum of three dwellings per lot in the RR1 (Rural Residential 1) and R1 (Residential 1) zones, and they’ve removed that maximum. There’s a new tiered system that allows up to five dwellings in R1 and RR1, and up to six dwellings in RU1 (Residential Urban 1), depending on lot size. Basically, this allows one or two additional houses on existing lots. “They didn’t go as far as the Housing Society was thinking would be helpful, but they did go quite far in allowing additional houses on existing lots.