Letter to TC from Peter Pare re Bylaw Review

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From: Peter Pare   
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2020 11:47 AM 
To: Lori Foster <lfoster@islandstrust.bc.ca> 
Cc: Gregory Nicholls  
Lisa Baile ; information <information@islandstrust.bc.ca>; 
john allan <>; maryanne pare <>; 
Monica Petrie <>; Paul Petrie <> 
Subject: Correspondence to the Trust Council 
 
Dear Ms Foster,   
Please find attached a letter from a group of citizens on the Pender 
Islands to the Trust Council, along with a copy of the 1992 MOU 
between the Trust and MOTI. 
We ask that this correspondence be considered at the next Trust 
Council in December and we would appreciate a response from the 
Islands Trust Council. 
 
Peter Pare 
  
 

November 10, 2020 
 
Dear Islands Trust Council 
We are a group Citizens on the Pender Islands who have been closely following the current 
process of review and revisions of land use bylaws on Pender Island.  We believe that our 
observations of the process has broad relevance for the entire Trust, predominantly in 
highlighting the limitations of local bylaws to achieve the preserve and protect mandate. 
The aim of the bylaw review is, in part, to allow islanders to better deal with the Climate 
Emergency declared by the Trust and the Capital Regional District of which Pender is a part.  We 
have been asked to submit written and verbal communications to the Local Trustees 
concerning how the bylaws can be altered to better address the Official Community Plan and 
mitigate the effects of climate change.    
Among our major concerns are: 
1. The relentless loss and degradation of the Island’s unique and endangered ecosystems with 
resultant loss of biodiversity 
2. The continued excessive reliance on water extraction from our limited aquafers 
3.  Limiting Pender’s contribution to emissions. Energy efficient housing, rainwater harvesting,   
encouraging the planting of trees, encouraging active transportation (walking, cycling), 
supporting public transit  
4. The constraints placed on local food production by regulations 
All of these concerns are concordant with the Trust’s Mandate to “preserve and protect the 
Trust area and its unique amenities and environment”.   Alarmingly we find that the local trust 
has very limited powers to address many of these issues and fulfill its preserve and protect 
responsibilities. Given that we are in a global climate emergency, it seems timely that the 
regulatory powers of the Trust be expanded to address the urgent local issues concerning the 
impact on the environment.  
For example, the majority of the island‘s area is composed of the critically endangered Coastal 
Douglas-fir biogeo-climatic zone (CDF), the smallest of the 16 biogeo-climatic zones in British 
Columbia and the least represented within parks and protected areas. Only 4% is under 
protected area status.  
In theory land use bylaws on the islands are a way of protecting CDF.  However the majority of 
the endangered ecosystem is on private land and at present there is no mechanism availabl

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