report on February 5 LTC meeting

We held our meeting today, electronically. It’s not ideal, but it is practical. Two Lasqueti people attended and spoke to us at Town Hall, one by internet on Zoom, the other by telephone. I am glad that the Trust has been able to make this possible for electronic Local Trust Committee meetings.

I’ve posted a letter sent to the Trust by the provincial government at https://lasqueti.ca/node/7047  The section on Meetings is relevant to why we have chosen to make electronic meetings possible. They are not our preference, and we will hold meetings in person on Lasqueti when it seems wise and safe.

I believe that it is important for people who do not have internet or telephone access to be able to hear, or watch and hear, meetings on Lasqueti. I have asked if the Trust can purchase a video monitor, or help to have the Health Centre video system screen repaired or replaced, so that they can be available there, available for our meetings and other purposes.

The following notes are my understanding and recollection of the meeting, and are entirely unofficial. A recording of the meeting will be available on the web site soon, possibly before the end of this week.

The video of and the agenda package for the meeting are available through https://islandstrust.bc.ca/event/lasqueti-island-local-trust-committee-13/

The agenda package (191p) is available directly at  https://islandstrust.bc.ca/document/lasqueti-ltc-regular-meeting-agenda-7/

We asked staff to remove the references to Development Permits and the fees for them from the proposed Fees Bylaw. We will discuss this bylaw at our next meeting. Trust Council has asked all LTCs to adopt a similar bylaw to the Model that they provided, to move the fees charged for applications closer to the actual costs of dealing with the applications, and thus remove much of the financial burden from the taxpayers and give it to the landowners who make applications.

We had no concerns with the Gambier LTC referral of their new OCP and LUB bylaws.

On the frontage waiver, we decided to waive the 10% of perimeter requirement, but keep the minimum 20m requirement in place. A representative of the applicant was present, and said that this would work for them.

We received some further input into suggested changes to our proposed Official Community Plan, and agreed that it was better to do it as well as possible, even if we did not finish before the current trustee terms end. We will be sent an up-to-date version of the proposed OCP – possibly the one in the agenda package – and can make sure our numbering for items we would like considered is consistent, to make it easier to work through them, possibly at our next meeting.

The NAPTEP application for a covenant and reduced property tax on the Livingstone Forest property, down Lennie Road, has been approved by Trust Council.

There is a Shoreline Protection Model Bylaw Report on pages 128 through 180 of the agenda package. I recommend that everyone concerned with our shorelines read it. We need to consider how to protect the shorelines from sea level rise and its consequential increase in erosion, and also whether and how to minimize damage to the foreshore and intertidal zones from developments on the island near and above the shoreline. We would be happy to hear your thoughts on this report.

Our next scheduled meeting is Monday, April 11, with location and time to be decided.

If you have questions or comments, please talk to or email me or Tim, or email the LTC trustees and planner and Regional Planning Manager Kauer at  LasquetiIslandLocalTrustCommittee [at] islandstrust [dot] bc [dot] ca