Letter CVRD for Housing Services Denman Island

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Bowen  Denman  Hornby  Gabriola  Gambier  Lasqueti  Mayne  North Pender  Salt Spring  Saturna  South Pender  Thetis 
 
 
October 7, 2019 
 
 
 
Comox Valley Regional District Board 
600 Comox Road 
Courtenay, BC  V9N 3P6 
 
Dear Comox Valley Regional District Board, 
 
 
I am writing on behalf of the Denman Island Local Trust Committee to ask that the CVRD carry out a 
feasibility study about the creation of a housing service for Denman Island. This request was formalized 
in a resolution passed by the Local Trust Committee on August 14, 2019, that “the Denman Island Local 
Trust Committee request the Comox Valley Regional District to carry out a feasibility study for a housing 
service on Denman Island.” 
 
Background 
 
The Denman Island Local Trust Committee (DILTC) is the governing agency responsible for land use 
planning on Denman. We are not authorized to build, operate, or fund housing, nor to provide a housing 
service of any kind. Our work in supporting housing diversity and security is focussed on ensuring our 
zoning regulations include appropriate options for a variety of housing, and dealing with housing 
rezoning applications.  
 
The DILTC has been aware of the unmet need for secure, affordable housing for many years, both 
anecdotally and also through evidence reported in numerous studies, most recently the 2018 Denman 
Island Housing Needs Assessment, commissioned by the Islands Trust and completed by Dillon 
Consulting. Key findings from this report are cited below.  
 
Community support for a feasibility study 
 
There is widespread community concern about housing on the Island and demonstrated interest in the 
potential of a housing service.  
 In the 2014 CVRD referendum which led to the creation of a housing service, 80% of Denman 
voters voted in favour.  
 10 representatives from four community organizations and the Islands Trust attended a meeting 
with Area A Director Arbour in August, 2019, to learn about and discuss a potential housing 
service. The meeting concluded with a decision by the majority of participants to support a 
request for feasibility study.  

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 The Denman Island Residents’ Association, The Hornby and Denman Health Care Society, and 
the Denman Housing Association have passed resolutions and provided letters of support for 
this request (attached).  
 
Housing Needs on Denman Island 
 
Numerous housing studies carried out on Denman Island over the past 10 years all affirm a critical need 
for affordable, attainable, and seniors’ housing across the housing spectrum from supported housing to 
rentals to affordable ownership.  
 
The 2018 Housing Needs Assessment for the Northern Region of Islands Trust has 20 pages focussed on 

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