Housing

SRD Looking into developing two Provincial lots on Quadra Island

Strathcona Regional District (SRD) staff will be asking the Ministry of Forests about the possibility of obtaining two provincial lots on Quadra Island for development. Three of the four Regional Directors at the Wednesday, January 14, 2026, Electoral Areas Services Committee meeting voted to proceed. 

Meredith Starkey, Manager of Planning for the SRD, brought a list of 13 Federal, Provincial and Regional properties to the meeting. She explained that the report provides an overview of public land available near Quathiaski Cove and Heriot Bay on Quadra Island which could be considered for future affordable housing.

 “There’s really only three sites that are currently undeveloped in a suitable size and some other conditions that make them more suitable than others. They all have constraints.”

She advised that the appropriate next step is an inquiry to the relevant land manager to determine if the province is willing to sell or lease the land. Subsequent steps would depend on the tenure type but would likely include legal surveys, management plans, First Nations consultation, and site condition assessments. These assessments would cover environmental, archeological, geotechnical, potable water, and sewage disposal factors.

Starkey also added a caution: because some of these lands were retained for park purposes, re-designating them for development means the benefit of housing would come at the cost of natural park space and conservation habitat.

Robyn Mawhinney, the Regional Director for Area C, responded, “ I wanted to say thank you for this great report. It’s really comprehensive, clear to understand maps and came back really quickly. I really appreciate all of that. And I think for me, when I, once I looked at it, it really feels like there are two provincial land lots of particular interest identified in the report. I think the report identifies them as lot 7 and 8 in on Hyacynth Bay Road and those are the ones that kind of sparked my curiosity in the first place when I was looking at the provincial IMAP website and what led to the request for this report. So I’m really happy that they made it onto the report.” 

John Rice, Regional Director for Area D, had some concerns: “When I read the report, it seems like there’s a fair amount of hurdles that need to be jumped through. What is the likelihood that anything can be achieved from this?”

 Meredith Starkey: “I think that there is certainly likelihood. We don’t know what the current intent for these parcels is from the provincial perspective. Without opening that line of inquiry, I can’t really say with any certainty. Through our other park processes to pursue tenures, we know that the province does consider this. There’s nothing today that would tell us that they wouldn’t, if that makes sense. It isn’t likely something that would be concluded in a short period of time. Tenure processes usually do take a number of years.” 

Director Rice: “That was exactly what my line of thought was thinking and here we are, in year four and I’m wondering is this something that is going to take a fair amount of effort? What I would like to see staff working on is our existing projects and get them completed before the next election cycle. I really don’t see a quick end game to this.” 

Mark Vonesch, Regional Director for Cortes Island, had a different perspective.

 “I just want to give a little bit of perspective on a similar situation on Cortes where there was a piece of land owned by Ministry of Transportation. The previous regional director pursued it for three years. I’ve been pursuing it since and it has only just finally been announced that the Ministry of Transportation is willing to release it.”

“I think these things do take time and I’ve certainly been impatient around the process, but just wanted to let fellow directors know that these things do take time and taking the small steps to move them forward is ultimately worth it in the end.”

Director Mawhinney:  “I will move that staff investigate with the Ministry of Forests and other ministries as appropriate the potential for disposition of Lot seven and eight in Harriet Bay noted on the report as 0 Hyacinth Bay Road for development of affordable and attainable housing on Quadra Island.”

Director Rice voted against the motion, but Directors Mawhinney, Vonesch and Whalley were in favour, so the motion to further look into the possibility of developing these lots for housing will proceed.

Links of Interest:

Top image credit: Hyacinth Road on Quadra Island – Google Maps

Maps & Property List from staff report

A. Federal Lands 

738 West Road: current location of the RCMP detachment on Quadra Island and therefore likely not a suitable candidate for a housing development. 

584 Helanton Road: This site is zoned Residential One (R-1), lies within the Q. Cove Sewer Service Area, and is currently developed with one detached dwelling. The current use is not public information but likely serves as work force housing for federal employees. Under the current zoning, this site may be further developed to add one secondary suite and one accessory dwelling unit; however, the potential for this site to be disposed by the Federal government is unclear. To proceed with housing development at this site, the first next step would be an inquiry to the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada to determine the likelihood of disposition. 

615 Heriot Bay Road: This site is zoned Residential One (R-1), lies within the Q. Cove Sewer Service Area, and is currently developed with one detached dwelling. The current use is not public information but likely serves as work force housing for federal employees. Under the current zoning, this site may be further developed to add one secondary suite and one accessory dwelling unit; however, the potential for this site to be disposed by the Federal government is unclear. To proceed with housing development at this site, the first next step would be an inquiry to the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada to determine the likelihood of disposition. 

B. Provincial Lands 

0 Rebecca Spit Road: This site is the current location of Rebecca Spit Provincial Park, and as such would not be a suitable candidate for housing development. District Lot 216: This undeveloped site is zoned Rural One (RU-1) and is not on a community water or sewer system. Under the current zoning, this site may be developed to add up to five (5) detached dwellings, each with a secondary suite; however, the potential for this site to be disposed by the Provincial government is unclear. To proceed with housing development at this site, the first next step would be an inquiry to the Ministry of Forests to determine the likelihood of disposition. 

District Lot 14: This undeveloped site is zoned Rural One (RU-1) and is not on a community water or sewer system. Under the current zoning, this site may be developed to add up to five (5) detached dwellings, each with a secondary suite. The potential to secure this site is potentially further reduced as the property is currently held under a woodlot licence and uncertainty as to whether the woodlot operator would relinquish all or a portion of these lands for housing development. Additionally, this site is further encumbered as it is designated as part of the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), which would require application to the Agricultural Land Commission to permit construction of more than one dwelling. To proceed with housing development at this site, the first next step would be an inquiry to the woodlot operator and to the Ministry of Forests to determine the likelihood of disposition and a further inquiry to the ALC regarding options for a Non-Adhering Residential Use application or an Exclusion application. 

0 Hyacinthe Bay Road (Lot 7): This undeveloped site is zoned Residential One (R-1) and is not on a community water or sewer system. Under the current zoning, this site may be developed to add up to one (1) detached dwelling with a secondary suite and one (1) accessory dwelling unit. To proceed with housing development at this site, the first next step would be an inquiry to the Ministry of Forests to determine the likelihood of disposition. 

0 Hyacinthe Bay Road (Lot 8): This undeveloped site is zoned Residential One (R-1) and is not on a community water or sewer system. Under the current zoning, this site may be developed to add up to one (1) detached dwelling with a secondary suite and one (1) accessory dwelling unit. To proceed with housing development at this site, the first next step would be an inquiry to the Ministry of Forests to determine the likelihood of disposition.

C. Strathcona Regional District Park Lands 

The SRD Parks Service manages over 50 parks and hundreds of kilometres of trails to protect the region’s environmental and cultural values, and to provide a diverse range of recreational opportunities. The park lands noted below have been retained for this purpose, and while they may be predesignated as developable lands, it is important to recognize that the benefit of housing would come at a loss of natural park space and their related conservation, habitat, and recreational benefits. Considerations for the potential disposal of parkland would require extensive public consultation prior to additional resources being expended toward the use of public parkland for housing developments. 

Noble Road Park: This undeveloped, inactive park land is zoned Residential One (R-1) and is not on a community water or sewer system. Though the current zoning permits up to one (1) detached dwelling with a secondary suite, the small size of this lot (0.3 acres) constrains its ability to meet water and sewer servicing needs. To proceed with housing development at this site, the first next step would be an inquiry to Island Health to determine whether servicing is feasible. 

Plaza Road Park: This undeveloped, inactive park land is zoned Residential One (R-1), is within the Q. Cove Sewer Service area, and is not on a community water system. Though the current zoning permits up to one (1) detached dwelling with a secondary suite, the small size of this lot (0.5 acres) constrains its ability to meet water servicing needs. To proceed with housing development at this site, the first next step would be an inquiry to Island Health to determine whether servicing is feasible. 

Quathiaski Cove Park: This undeveloped, inactive park land is zoned Residential One (R-1), is within the Q. Cove Sewer Service area, and is not on a community water system. Though the current zoning permits up to one (1) detached dwelling with a secondary suite and one (1) accessory dwelling unit, this site is not currently accessible by road. A 260 metre unopened Registered Right-of-Way (RRW) extends to this site from Green Road; however, opening this RRW would require a use permit from the Ministry of Transportation and Transit (MoTT) and significant investment to develop a roadway, including passage through and across an environmentally sensitive area and over or around steep bluffs. The costs necessary to address this challenge likely make this option infeasible for affordable housing. 

Whiskey Point Park: This undeveloped, inactive park land is zoned Residential One (R-1), is within the Q. Cove Sewer Service area, and is not on a community water system. The current zoning permits up to one (1) detached dwelling with a secondary suite and one (1) accessory dwelling unit. To proceed with housing development at this site, the first next step would be an inquiry to Island Health to determine whether servicing is feasible. 

Esplanade Park: This active park with an established trail is zoned Public Assembly One (PA1), is not on a community water or sewer system. Under the current zoning, residential use is not permitted. Additionally, this parcel is configured as a narrow (30m) strip within the environmentally sensitive area along the foreshore and would likely not have enough developable area to be a suitable candidate for housing development or meet any servicing requirements. 

Schooner Park: This undeveloped, inactive park land is zoned Residential One (R-1) and is not on a community water or sewer system. Though the current zoning permits up to one (1) detached dwelling with a secondary suite, the small size of this lot (1.01 acres) constrains its ability to meet water and sewer servicing needs. Additionally, this site is not currently accessible by road, with a meagre four (4) metres of frontage connecting to an undeveloped shoulder within the existing road allowance for Schooner Road. As this is narrower than the ministry standard of six (6) metres for driveways, it is unclear whether the Ministry would issue a permit to enable road access. To proceed with housing development at this site, the first next step would be an inquiry to Island Health to determine whether servicing is feasible, as well as an inquiry to MoTT to determine whether a road use permit would be issued to develop driveway access to this site. 

Buker Road Park: This undeveloped, inactive park land is zoned Residential One (R-1) and is not on a community water or sewer system. The current zoning is limited in density permitted, Staff Report – Public Lands Around Heriot Bay and Quathiaski Cove Page 5 allowing only up to one (1) detached dwelling with a secondary suite. The small size of this lot (0.5 acres) further constrains its ability to meet water and sewer servicing needs and the future potential to increase density through a zoning amendment. Although not recommended, any desire to proceed with housing development at this site would first necessitate an inquiry to Island Health to determine whether servicing is feasible.

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