Tag Archives: Cortes Island community plan

Housing, Politics

Cortes Island Zoning Bylaw Passes

The Strathcona Regional District Board passed the Cortes Island Zoning Bylaw. 

Regional Director Mark Vonesch gave an overview of the process at the Wednesday, November 19, 2025, board meeting:

“We’re at the last stage of potentially passing the Cortes Island zoning bylaw. It’s been almost a two year process of community consultation, both online and in person. It’s gone to the Advisory Planning Commission on Cortes, and it’s gone through a public hearing at the beginning of September. We had 140 plus folks attend that hearing, which is amazing. The reason I deferred it a month was that you have 200 pages of comments on this, and I wanted to take the time to read them all and to really assess what people’s challenges and also what they like about the bylaw before making my own personal recommendation.”

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Development, Politics

Rural Directors against Municipalities taking over the Electoral Areas Planning Service

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The City of Campbell River is considering taking control of the Strathcona Regional District’s (SRD) Electoral Areas Planning Service away from rural directors.

Currently, the members of that planning service are the four Regional Directors of : Area A (Kyuquot/Nootka-Sayward), Area B (Cortes Island), and Area C (Discovery Islands and Mainland Inlets) and Area D (Oyster Bay – Buttle Lake ).

Campbell River’s five Directors are looking at joining the service, though it would cost the city’s taxpayers close to $500,000 per year for its share of the service’s assessments. They asked the other incorporated municipalities in the SRD—Tahsis, Zeballos, Gold River, and Sayward—to consider joining as well.

On Wednesday, October 1, 2025, the Regional Directors of Areas A, B and C issued a joint press release rejecting the idea. In today’s story they outline why they believe the planning service must remain in the hands of the rural areas.

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Politics

SRD Municipalities wanting control of the Electoral Areas Planning Service

In the past, Rural Directors have not always appreciated Campbell River ‘interference’ in their affairs. An initiative coming out of the Strathcona Regional District’s (SRD) Municipal Services Committee could result in a lot more interference from Campbell River and other municipalities. A planning service typically manages zoning and land use rules, reviews development and building applications, prepares community and regional growth plans, protects environmentally sensitive areas, and coordinates public input on land use decisions. They would like to take control of the Electoral Area Planning Service.

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Environment, Housing, Transportation

FOCI’s Recommendations for the Official Community Plan

On Monday, Dec 11, the Strathcona Regional District will be holding an open house at Mansons Hall, pertaining to updating the Cortes Island zoning bylaws. This is the first of a series of steps that will also include a revision of the island’s Official Community Plan. The Friends of Cortes Island has prepared a 22 page study of suggested recommendations for revisions to Cortes Island’s plan for the future. 

“It’s really critically important at this moment in history that we make sure that every decision made in the community plan is made taking climate change and  climate adaptation into account,” said Forrest Berman-Hatch, author of the report. 

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Housing

Cortes Island’s First Housing Forum

About 100 people came together for Cortes Island’s first Housing Forum on Saturday, December 2, in Mansons Hall.   

There were break-out sessions devoted to tiny homes, rental housing, short term rentals, worker housing, empty homes, landlord-tenant relations, home upgrades and making land and home ownership more affordable. A session devoted to environmental issues was added at the last minute. 

The Forum began with opening addresses by Regional Director Mark Vonesch and Sadhu Johnston, Executive Director of the Cortes Community Housing Society.  

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