Housing Fear and Loathing, and Changes to Local Bylaws

It was a full capacity Activity Centre Lounge for the Local Trust Committee’s “Public Hearing” process, held on Tuesday, March 18, where it was agreed that the original allocation of 15min of public consultation wasn’t sufficient. Instead, the LTC expanded the allotment to 2 hours, to hear questions and comments and concerns. Ultimately, the consensus was that a more adequate public hearing should be held at the Community Hall at a time better suited for working people and their families, than the 10:00AM start time on a weekday. As well, the community wasn’t given all the materials to be discussed in advance.

Bylaws 248 and 249 are to alter or eliminate the so-called “Density Bank”, and to remove the requirement for a Temporary Use Permit for potential accessory dwellings permitted on R2 residential zoning. This would affect 292 properties in R2 zoning, and there would be a restriction of 1600 square feet footprint on an accessory dwelling, and require Provincially regulated greywater and septic to be approved. The assumption is that the TUP is an impediment to landowners building accessory dwellings, but they would continue to be required to obtain a siting permit from Islands Trust. In the several years that have passed since an accessory dwelling became permitted on R2 residential lots, there have been 2 applications made, with only 1 built. 

There were a range of questions, comments, and concerns raised, as a broad reflection of differing views regarding the obstacles to accessing housing including, capping too much growth, gentrification, market pressures versus the size of the footprint of housing and development, and impact to ground water and the environment. Denman’s population has grown at a rate of 20% every 5 years, with no sign of slowing, while there is no consensus on whether we need to implement policies that slow growth, or instead push for increased ferry capacity and other public services that will contribute to the current unsustainable growth rate, which taxes every shared amenity on our Island, and puts upward pressure on every expense.

We presently have an untold number of accessory dwellings that are “non conforming” to current bylaws, however the Islands Trust has chosen to not enforce the bylaws on this sort of housing until there are measures taken to alleviate the challenges for current residents who are “under housed” or living in an uncertain situation where their status may become questioned moving forward. In many of these circumstances, the landowner may be reluctant to bring the non conforming housing into the legal regulatory light, for fear of the expense of the entire regulatory regime.

There was also some discussion of the so-called “empty home tax” that the LTC has yet to opt into, where it would incentivize absentee homeowners to rent an empty home, and provide revenue for housing initiatives. While the last few decades have provided evidence that the Federal, Provincial, Regional District, and Islands Trust have not had any significant impact on the issue of access to affordable housing on Denman Island, there is a persistent and illogical belief that only government can provide the solutions. The Islands Trust has no legal jurisdiction on housing affordability, but only on land use and zoning. 

The Housing Advisory Planning Committee that IT sponsored a year ago, has a report with some recommendations that can be found on the Denman Islands Trust website under “Planning.” We had a similar APC process more than a decade ago. Our community generally supports the encouragement of demographic diversity, while we are the oldest mean average age community in Canada, with more than 50% of residents exceeding 60 years old. Denman Island needs to find ways to support and encourage younger people and families, who are the glue that holds the fabric of our community together. We simply cannot wait another decade for another IT hosted APC to find that the housing crisis has only deepened.