Bowen’s Trustees went to the quarterly Council meeting on Mayne Island last week. On return, having told someone where I had been been, he snorted with derision, querying whether the Trust had ANY relevance to us anymore. Actually it does, hence this review of meeting highlights.
Bowen remains entrenched within the Trust federation, and is party to all area-wide initiatives and programs. Biggest and best are the activities of the Trust Fund, soon to be renamed the Islands Trust Conservancy. They now manage or own close to sixty properties throughout the Trust area, and have laid out an ambitious Regional Conservation Plan in which Bowen plays quite prominently. The Trust Fund has targeted acquisition of about 60 hectares here through a Free Crown Grant process. As well, there are now four new NAPTEP (Natural Area Protection Tax Exemption Program) properties on Salt Spring, including a 47 ha. parcel contiguous to Maxwell Lake. These will receive a 60% tax break in exchange for covenants, and this model could be adopted on Bowen in the future.
Bowenian editorial staff may be disheartened that Trust Executive did not put an immediate nix on the Snug Cove Plan when they discussed it last Wednesday, opting instead to suggest cautionary language about public process on long-term ferry marshalling solutions. The terse statement: “The bylaw as proposed is not contrary or at variance with the Islands Trust Policy Statement” puts the ball back in Bowen’s court.
Island Trustees meet with San Juan County commissioners every June to talk about areas of mutual interest. This year, the discussion turned on affordability of housing, tourism and changing demographics. It seems the relentless pressure on prices, proliferation of short term vacation rental houses, fractional ownerships, declining school enrollments, and reverse commuting, all ills of the Trust area, are eerily familiar south of the border. San Juan put out a ‘Welcome to the Islands’ colour glossy some years ago, which is now to be replicated as a joint venture, with inserts for each island. This was seen as an effective way of informing newbies about all the things the realtors don’t tell you.
An ongoing review of the Policy Statement, coupled with feedback from the Islands Forum held last February in Nanaimo, has resulted in proposed strategies on issues ranging from water and growth management to renewing the vision of the Trust area. There is enough material to keep the policy wonks going for ten years.
We got a taste of the difficulty in trying to address water quality concerns around Cusheon Lake, Salt Spring. Policy Statement 4.4.2 precludes any increase in density or intensity of land use in areas which are known to have freshwater problems.Even though the wording is open to wide interpretation, Trust Council would not alter it without again going back to the Programs Committee.
Longtime chair David Essig is stepping down from the Islands Trust this December, and the perennial ‘issue centrale’ of the Trust- ie governance restructure, will lose its chief spokesman. Also, with a new minister responsible, there is no way of knowing whether the old Community and Aboriginal Affairs promise to take another peek at the situation will fly out the window.
The Islands Trust increasingly relies on taxes raised from Salt Spring to support the other islands- much to the chagrin of the local Trustees. In fact, South Pender administration is subsidized to the tune of $331 per person, Galiano over $105,000 island wide. Bowen’s share of trust-wide expenses has gone from $66,000 to $125,000 in five years. The result is discord at Council table, and ammunition for the election campaigns. If either Salt Spring Trustee wins again, there will likely be another push to get their island incorporated.
Speaking of which, a tract on improving governance on Salt Spring was hot off the press, highlighting the difficulties of coordinating Trust and Regional District. It begs for powers not even vested with municipalities such as a real estate tax, and repeatedly points out the tax inequities and high workload imposed on the Trustees and Regional Director.
So the problem remains for the Trust- if Salt Spring incorporates as Bowen did, the glue holding the Trust together will weaken significantly, along with the coffers. If it does not, SS will limp along with two on-island trustees, fettered by legislative authority limits, handling the land use business of a 10,000 plus community undergoing huge contortions of growth. Needless to say, what the Trust wants is wider powers. In the current political climate, that would be a pretty tall order for any time soon.
We can probably best measure the relevance of the Trust to Bowen by the intangibles- whether we feel good about what the Trust purports to do. The Trust may be receding from our day-to-day affairs, but its rules provide comfort. When you look a bit closer however, the flaws are pretty glaring. I strongly believe the whole system is due for a major revamping.
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