Getting answers to some of Gabriolans’ top questions

Hope Lompe

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder

The Sounder’s reporters sit in on nearly every public meeting held by local governments responsible for making decisions on Gabriola. They listen to every public comment period and delegation, and hear the concerns of locals who are able to take time to attend these meetings.

As Gabriola is in the middle of a Trust Policy Statement (TPS) update, that will ultimately influence the new Gabriola Official Community Plan (OCP), Sounder staff have heard overwhelmingly the need to understand what the TPS is, what it will do – and importantly what it will not do.

The policy has not been updated since 1993 and many of the Island’s top-of-mind issues can be found linked to the TPS: density, housing, land use, Indigenous relations, ecological preservation and climate change.

The draft policy itself is a hefty 36 page document written in the lesser-known language of policy-speak. It is the combined efforts of two Islands Trust councils over six years of discussion and community engagement that led to the draft which passed first reading in July.

For this report, Sounder staff spoke with the Islands Trust staff senior planner on the TPS file, Jason Youmans, and both Gabriola Island Local Trustees, Susan Yates and Tobi Elliott, to get their answers to the community’s top TPS questions.

Elliott and Yates also sit on the Islands Trust Financial Planning Committee and Trust Conservancy Board, and Elliott sits on the Executive Committee.

Overview: what is the Policy Statement?

The TPS is a provincial requirement under the Islands Trust Act to adopt policies that meet its mandate to preserve and protect the “unique amenities and environment for the benefit of the residents of the trust area and of British Columbia generally,” according to the Act.

Effectively, it serves as the guiding document for OCPs, land use bylaws and the Trust Council Strategic Plan.

Why is the Policy Statement being updated?

The general consensus from Islands Trust is the policy statement update should not have been left this long, and going forward will be looked at sooner than a generational time of 30 years.

The new policy statement incorporates three components intertwined with Islands Trust operations, yet not mentioned anywhere in the previous document: climate change, housing and Indigenous reconciliation. More on these later. While the new TPS may feel like a gargantuan departure from the old one, Trust Council Chair, Laura Patrick says this is really bringing the document up to speed with how they have already been operating.

“A lot of the policies that are in here are already being seen in the day to day work we’re doing today,” she said at the Nov. 20 Gabriola LTC meeting. We’re not stuck in 1993, we’ve all evolved to where we are today. So it does feel like a leap in some cases when you’re looking at it, but it isn’t when you think of how we’re doing our business today.”

Is the TPS regulatory? How is it used in practice?

While the Islands Trust Act requires the TPS to be adopted as a bylaw, it is not a regulatory document. Rather, it operates more like a “checklist” when LTC’s and the Executive Committee make land use bylaw decisions and amend OCPs.

The policy statement must apply to the whole trust area, and therefore uses broad goals in the form of directive policies (that all bylaws and OCPs should meet) as well as guiding principals and advisory policies (that bylaws and OCPs should aim for but are not mandatory) to meet this requirement.

Both amendments to OCPs, or amendments to an LTC land use bylaw go to the Islands Trust Executive Committee for approval before they can be adopted into law, Youmans says. Section 15 of the Islands Trust Act says a bylaw submitted to the Executive Committee must not be approved if it is contrary to or at variance with the trust policy statement.

In practice the Executive Committee looks for compliance with TPS directive policies. It should be noted not every bylaw will fit into these categories.

“When these come in from [LTCs], we are just looking at those directive policies. We’re not even looking at the advisory policies.

“Those are like an encouragement of going in this direction, but you are not required as an LTC to implement an advisory policy,” says Elliott, who sits on the Executive Committee. 

How does it influence land use, bylaws and OCPs?

Existing OCPs do not need to conform to the new TPS unless updated. Even then, there is discretionary room for LTCs depending on what makes sense for their unique area, when it comes to guiding principles and advisory policies.

Under the Islands Trust Act, LTCs regulate development and use of land in the same way that would otherwise belong to the regional district for that area. In the Islands Trust, this is done through land use bylaws and OCPs at the Local Trust Area level.

Unless imminently planning and land use or zoning request on private land, owners will likely not be directly impacted by the document, until the OCP is amended reflecting the new TPS. 

Why does the Policy Statement need to address reconciliation?

In the object under the Islands Trust Act, the mandate of the Trust must be done in cooperation with several local governments and agencies including First Nations.

Elliott points to an April 28 letter to Islands Trust from the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, as evidence the province expects them to intertwine reconciliation into the document.

“I will need the Trust Council to take particular care to ensure that engagement with the public and First Nations on the bylaws put before me for approval, including amendments to Official Community Plans and the Trust Policy Statement, are undertaken in a manner that demonstrates mutual respect and builds towards consensus,” Minister Ravi Kahlon writes.

As for policy around land use and reconciliation, Yates assures there are no attempts on the part of the Islands Trust to take away from landowners.

“Nobody’s talking about taking private land,” said Yates, “Certainly on Gabriola there’s no thought of that.”

Elliott adds anything regulatory is years down the road, and not yet determined.

“It is not going to be a regulation tomorrow that impacts a landowner who lives in the shoreline area and may have an area of cultural heritage, it’s many years from being worked into regulations,” she says.

How does the Policy Statement tackle climate change and the environment?

Rather than having specific policies that outline climate change, it has been woven throughout the document, says Youmans.

“If we were to create a unique goal, or a unique little sub chapter for climate change in the document, it would mean migrating policies that currently live elsewhere in the document that have important climate change implications into that chapter,” he says.

“Whether it’s better that they live in a distinct climate change chapter, or whether it’s better they live where they currently are … I’m not really sure.”

Yates echoes this, saying every policy the Islands Trust takes on should have climate change in mind.

“Climate change should not be a standalone. Climate change should be part of every guiding and every advisory policy you undertake,” she says.

They are taking in public feedback on this approach, and looking at ways to strengthen their climate commitment even more throughout the document.

How is density and housing being managed in the Policy Statement?

Not just housing, but the number of people living on the island and the services and amenities they need all contribute to environmental protection and must be considered when the Islands Trust is carrying out their mandate.

“​​One island can only support so many humans before the entire ecosystem is gone,” Yates says.

“We cannot control the numbers of people, [but] we should be able to control the way that they impact the land and the water by limiting the kind of development they’re doing,” she says.

That said, they must also factor in how to support the housing needs, especially affordable housing needs, of the people who do call this island home. With land use in the purview of their jurisdiction, it is something they must develop policy around.

“The community has said we need more options for housing. Can we have more secondary suites in some areas, or can we develop small cluster dwelling zoning?” Elliott says.

“Let’s have a conversation about it and understand how do we need to develop, or how do we need to direct development, in these sensitive areas for the future.”

How will public feedback be incorporated?

In a follow up email to the Sounder, Youmans says questions and comments from the public during LTC meetings are recorded and reviewed by trustees to help inform what they bring forward at a future Trust Council meeting on the TPS.

If community members want Trust Council to receive their comments, they should submit them to islands2050@islandstrust.bc.ca. Correspondence received at that address is posted to the Islands 2050 webpage, and trustees are encouraged to check it periodically.

He adds staff pay attention to the public questions and comments, looking for “good ideas for further revisions, common themes emerging across islands, or errors that need correcting,” to help inform staff recommendations to Trust Council.

Resources

Here are a few TPS resources made available through the Islands Trust website. Youmans conducted an information session of the TPS at the Nov. 20 Gabriola Local Trust Committee (LTC) meeting, which can be viewed at the 26 minute mark here: http://bit.ly/3L08pUz

Copies of the draft policy are available at the Gabriola Island library, or online.

The public engagement survey is available at: https://islandstrust.bc.ca/islands-trust-draft-policy-statement-your-input-matters/.

Trustees have until February to get their final public engagement reports to the Trust Council.

Residents can also email feedback to Trustee Yates at syates@islandstrust.bc.ca or Trustee Elliott at telliott@islandstrust.bc.ca.

Frequently asked questions about the draft policy statement are also available to view at https://islandstrust.bc.ca/programs/islands-2050/islands-2050-frequently-asked-questions/