Bowen Bulletin

Here we are in the final months of our three-year term, on the brink of passing the Snug Cove Plan, some 20 years after the community first began debate about its merits. For the past three years I have had the privilege of direct political involvement in this plan, and I want to use this opportunity to address the three issues that are central to its logic: density in the cove, forms of housing other than the single family home, and the provision of affordable housing for long term residents of Bowen Island.

First, however, a few comments about two other issues that received some degree of attention at our recent public hearing: the creation of a loop road through the park, and retention of the surplus lands in their current form as green space/parkland. I remain strongly opposed to the loop road, and the Snug Cove Plan does not commit us to this strategy; that is a separate matter which remains to be determined. As for retention of the surplus lands in their present state, my short answer is that the price that we have paid for the land should guarantee that a good deal of the green space can remain; we need not sell or donate all of the surplus lands for residential or civic purposes. But on to the heart of the debate.

Density:

There should be more density in the Cove than in other parts of Bowen Island. Our current OCP already says as much, having designated the Cove as appropriate for “special needs” multi-family housing. And we have heard from our planners that the proposed blueprint for Snug Cove will not significantly increase potential density beyond that of our current OCP.

What we are advocating, however, is that there could now be both “special needs” and market housing within Snug Cove, and that we will only accommodate more density than the current Plan, if — and this is a critical caveat — the density is transferred from elsewhere on the island. Like many others, I am committed to maintaining the overall population for Bowen Island that is envisaged in the current OCP.

The debate within Council this week centred on the density on these lands. Some of us favoured 10 units per acre for market housing, and 15 units per acre for non-market or affordable housing; the plan was urging an initial base of 15 units per acre. Much of the criticism at the public hearing argued that higher density would result in urban forms of land use. These concerns are valid and they came from at least half of those present. Politics requires the art of compromise – and this is where I thought we should compromise: reduce the density to a base of 10 units, but maintain our commitment to a greater density in the Cove than elsewhere, and the provision of housing options other than the single family home.

Only the single family home?

It is fundamentally elitist to argue that Bowen Island should only have one form of housing: the single family dwelling. You may as well put up a sign at the dock: Can’t buy here unless you have $400,000; we will allow you to rent an apartment above a store, but we won’t let you buy it; you can live in a townhouse or row housing if you are disabled or elderly, but otherwise it’s not permissible.
People want to have choices about how they live, even though they share a commitment to Bowen as a place where green space, parkland, and rural lifestyle are all highly valued. And while we should not make these choices available everywhere on the island if we want to preserve what we currently have, it does make good environmental sense to increase density in the Cove, and reduce it elsewhere on the island. This view has the support of such clearly committed environmentalists as former councillor Bob Turner, and Sustainability Chair Dave Hocking, (who is also Chief Strategist for the David Suzuki Foundation).

Affordable Housing:

The plan that we currently have before the community mandates that any proposal to build multi-family housing “will be required to incorporate a demonstrated community benefit”. And first on the list of benefits is “non-market or rental housing”. There is a pressing need to ensure that Bowen does not become the Whistler of the Gulf Islands – an enclave for only the rich. The Snug Cove Plan gives future Councils the right to demand affordable housing from those who would build on our newly acquired lands. This is the beauty of acquisition of the Snug Cove surplus lands. We own the land, and we can control our destiny. Let’s move forward with a vision of Snug Cove that is sensitive to all the dimensions of our lives, the environmental, the economic, the political and the social.

(At our July 4th meeting, after two hours of discussion, Mayor and Council voted unanimously for a compromise base density of 12.5 units per acre; the Snug Cove plan is a small step away from becoming a part of our OCP.)