A quick question just came up in regard to Cortes Island’s ongoing Zoning Bylaw Review. Cortes Island residents have up until noon on Friday, March 7, to make their thoughts known on possible limits to house sizes known.
“Do we want to put a limit on the maximum house size on Cortes? It’s a basic yes or no question.” asked Regional Director Mark Vonesch.
“If you do agree, what is the maximum size you would like to see happen? Everything from 2,500 square feet to 4,300 square feet. I’ve certainly heard from a lot of people that this is something that’s important to consider. Basically do we want to have folks buy land here and build mega mansions? Do we want to have Cortes be a place where the ultra wealthy can buy a piece of land and build a summer mansion?”
“There’s probably going to be quite heated thoughts on both sides of this question and rather than me just making a decision I want to understand what the wishes of the community are.”
“If this new regulation goes through and we do say Cortes agrees that we should limit the size of the houses that are built, one of the questions people have is what does that mean for houses that are already larger than whatever square footage that we choose? The answer for that is simple, they’ll be grandfathered in. The bylaw does affect new builds only. If the house burns down, they won’t be able to build to that same size.”
“If this regulation does go through and anyone decides to build a house that’s larger than the square footage that Cortes wants, then the SRD can create a court injunction and have them either go through the process of reducing the size of their house to conform to the regulation, or take the house down.”
“Is this something we want? How do we want to have land use on, on Cortez B? I’m really excited to hear people’s answers.”
Click here to make your thoughts on limiting the maximum size for houses on Cortes known.
Cortes Currents: What’s the purpose of the Zoning Bylaw Review?
Director Vonesch: “ We need more housing and we need more appropriate housing for folks that are on the spectrum of being really marginalized with housing, living in unsuitable housing or not having housing. I know a senior on Cortes who is basically camping for the winter. Past surveys have shown that there’s 20% of the people living in unstable housing on Cortes and that needs to be our focus. And I think that’s what we’re doing at Rainbow Ridge, the breaking ground on seven new units which just happened.”
“This zoning bylaw review process allows us to add some more density on people’s properties that are over a hectare and zoned for residential. That’s one of the big things coming out of it.”
“The other big thing coming out of it is having people’s secondary units allowed to be up to 1,200 square feet, which is more appropriate than small cottages for a small family.”
Cortes Currents: What do you say to people who are concerned about the island’s population expanding?
Director Vonesch: “I understand there is a sentiment on Cortes that, “I love this place. I want to keep it the same. I also hear that making Cortes a place where young people can live and have opportunity is a big issue.”
“That’s what we’re balancing and my primary goal for housing is providing suitable housing and opportunities for suitable housing for people who already live here. That’s the number one thing. We’re going to start there.”
“Will that result in some increased population? Probably a little bit, but it’s really about creating housing opportunities for folks that live here.”
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