Tag Archives: Cortes Zoning Bylaw

Sept 12 Zoning Bylaw Review Meeting in Mansons Hall

Close to 60 Cortes Island residents turned out for the Zoning Bylaw Review Meeting in Manson’s Hall on Thursday, September 12th. The following article consists of audio clips of the main speakers, taken at the meeting, and an interview with Regional Director Mark Vonesch the following morning.   

Mark Vonesch: “Leading up to it, I think there was a little bit of tension in the air. ‘What’s going to happen?’ ‘How are we going to change our zoning in a way that’s good for Cortes and  protecting what we have here, but also making room for more housing  and addressing the housing challenges that we face?’”  

“I think the key takeaway is this is a process that we’re still in the middle of. There’s still lots of opportunity for input. We’ve had four meetings leading up to this. Last night’s meeting was about presenting the summary of the findings from the previous meetings, and giving us a sense of what the Zoning Bylaw draft is going to look like.”

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Important Zoning Bylaw Review Meeting

By Mark Vonesch, Regional Director of Cortes Island

Over the past six months Strathcona Regional District staff have been collecting our feedback to update the Cortes Zoning Bylaw.

Our zoning bylaw assigns zones to land and water within Cortes Island and specifies what kind of development and activities are permitted within each zone.

This update is important to the future of housing on Cortes and I hope you can join me in attending this event to review the draft and provide feedback to SRD staff.

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A Cortes Island Style Forum For Rental and Ownership Opportunities

Cortes Island’s Forum on ‘Rental and Ownership Opportunities’ came to Mansons Hall on Thursday June 13. There were breakout groups on what people were looking for in rentals, affordable ways to become an owner and renting your property out. Regional Director Mark Vonesh brought pizza. The whole board of the Cortes Community Housing Society appears to have turned out. 

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Island Alchemy: Twenty-Five Years of Good Libations

One of Cortes Island’s best loved businesses is a U-Brew tucked away in an old seafood plant, off the beaten track on Hansen Road. Founder and sole proprietor Doug Brown started the business 25 years ago after moving to Cortes from the Fraser Valley.

Currents interviewed Doug in mid-March 2024. Our extensive interview covers many topics including: how Doug got started in wine-making, what inspired him to start a U-Brew on Cortes, how wine is made, why wine is now a more practical product for him to offer than beer, what challenges he has met along the way, what he loves about his work, his feelings about community and customer service, and his thoughts about the future of this iconic Cortes Island business.

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Op-ed: Reflections on the Cortes Bylaw update meeting

The SRD planning meeting in Mansons Hall did not go as planned. I don’t think the group was opposed to further densification, as much as people just wanted to talk. I think we need to hear insight from some of our respected community thought leaders before placing stickies on a map to indicate where we think development should happen.

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