The bylaw audit

A bylaw is the law on your land. We read the islands’ land use bylaws and community plans, line by line and by script, for references that point nowhere, rules that cannot both be obeyed, and things that were left out. Bylaws still on their way to approval come first, because those can still be fixed.

How to check us. Every quotation below is a link. It opens the bylaw at the paragraph the words are in and highlights it, or opens the Islands Trust’s own document at the page. A script checks every one before it is published, and a finding whose words cannot be found where we say is not published. If you find one that is wrong, tell us and we will correct it in public.

190 findings on 14 islands so far, resting on 727 quotations.

Letters sent to the Islands Trust

On 3 October 2026, Tony Aly confirmed that he personally sent 12 bylaw letters to Islands Trust planning staff or the Executive Committee. They cover 10 island areas. The text on each island page is the copy prepared for him to send; we have not independently checked his sent-mail folder or received a response to these letters.

On their way to approval now

These have not been adopted. Where a letter can still make a difference, it is on the island’s page, ready to copy.

Denman Island letter ready to copy

  • PROPOSED Denman Island Land Use Bylaw No. 264, 2026. Read a third time on 15 September 2026. The October 2 Ministry reply says OCP Bylaw 260 had not been referred for ministerial approval.

Gabriola Island letter ready to copy

  • Gabriola Island Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 325, 2026. Read a first time, as amended, on 3 September 2026 and sent for referral to First Nations and agencies (resolutions GB-2026-067 and GB-2026-068, draft minutes of 3 September 2026, page 6).
  • BC Ferries terminal rezoning (GB-RZ-2023.1). On 3 September 2026 the committee deferred consideration of second reading until 30 September 2027 (resolution GB-2026-064).

Galiano Island letter ready to copy

  • Bylaw 300. Land use bylaw amendment for boat-access-only lots (a new Small Island Residential zone and sea-setback exemptions). No public hearing was held (resolution GL-2026-016, 10 February 2026). First reading 9 June 2026.
  • Bylaw 297. Site-specific Rural 2(a) zone for one lot (contractor yard, gravel sales, sawmilling, cidery and winery). Public hearing, second and third reading on 9 June 2026, then sent to the Executive Committee.
  • Bylaw 292 and 293. Plan and land use bylaw amendments for District Lot 86 (a clustered subdivision in return for a land transfer; new RR(e) zone). Public hearing and third reading on 10 February 2026.
  • Bylaw 294 and 295. The same kind of amendment for District Lot 85 (new RR(d) zone). Public hearing, amendment and third reading on 10 February 2026. Sent to the Executive Committee and to the Minister.

Gambier, Keats and the Associated Islands letter ready to copy

  • Bylaw 163. GAMBIER ISLAND. Amends Official Community Plan No. 73: adds a historical and cultural context, reconciliation objectives and policies, and brings two district lots into the plan area.
  • draft shoreline development permit area. GAMBIER ISLAND. A draft, not yet a bylaw and with no number. It would require a permit for building and land alteration within 30 metres of the sea and over the water.

Hornby Island letter ready to copy

  • Bylaw 177. Amends Land Use Bylaw No. 150: takes vacation home rental out of the permitted uses of four zones, deletes section 3.7 and makes every vacation rental need a temporary use permit.
  • Bylaw 176. Amends Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 149: deletes the plan's vacation home rental article, says the use is permitted through a temporary use permit, adds housing policies.

Lasqueti Island letter ready to copy

  • Lasqueti Island Land Use Bylaw No. 78, 2005, Amendment No. 1, 2026 (draft). A staff draft, not yet read. It would raise the minimum lot area for subdivision in Subdivision District A from 4 to 4.05 hectares, but only on lots of 64.74 hectares or more.
  • Lasqueti Island Land Use Bylaw No. 78, 2005, Amendment No. 1, 2025. Read a first time on 8 December 2025; public hearing 4 May 2026; abandoned on 6 July 2026 (resolution LA-2026-015, proceed no further). It would have changed 4 hectares to 4.05 hectares in eight places.

North Pender Island letter ready to copy

  • Bylaw 235. OCP amendment read a third time on 10 April 2026; Executive Committee approved it on 6 May (EC-2026-059).
  • Bylaw 240. Draft community plan amendment for the Housing Access and Affordability Project. Received 10 April 2026; sent for referral on 29 May 2026 (resolution NP-2026-038); referral forms dated 12 June 2026. No reading yet.
  • Bylaw 241. Draft land use bylaw amendment for the same project.
  • Bylaw 236 and 237. Draft plan and land use bylaw amendments for rezoning application NP-RZ-2024.1 (an excavating business now under a temporary use permit). Received and sent for referral on 30 January 2026, subject to an updated site plan.
  • Bylaw 242. Draft land use bylaw amendment for rezoning application NP-PL-RZ-2024-0110 (General Industrial site on Port Washington Road). Received and sent for referral on 30 January 2026.

Salt Spring Island letter ready to copy

  • Bylaw 553. Land Use Bylaw amendment for 116 Jackson Avenue, Ganges (R6 and R6(b) to a new C3(a) variation with reduced setbacks). The public hearing was waived on 27 August 2026.
  • Bylaw 552. Land Use Bylaw amendment for 104 Atkins Road (Rural to Commercial 1, after the expiry of Land Use Contract Bylaw 10). Read a first time on 9 April 2026. Listed as pending, with no report, on the 24 September 2026 agenda.
  • Bylaw 546. Land Use Bylaw amendment for 355 Blackburn Road (A2 to a new A2(c) variation, after the expiry of Land Use Contract Bylaw 195).
  • OCP-LUB Update Project (Phase 2). A full review of Bylaws 434 and 355. No draft bylaw exists yet. The project consultant did not renew for 2026-27 (minutes of 26 February 2026).
  • Community care facilities and transition housing (no bylaw number yet). On 27 August 2026 (resolution SS-2026-117) the committee asked staff to prepare a Land Use Bylaw amendment that defines community care facility and transition housing and permits them in zones that permit residential uses.

Saturna Island letter ready to copy

  • Bylaw 146. Draft Saturna Island Land Use Bylaw No. 119, 2018, Amendment No. 1, 2026: thirty days' notice before entry onto a property under bylaw investigation, with a matching change to Bylaw Infractions Investigations Bylaw No. 30.

South Pender Island

  • Bylaw 131. Public Notification Bylaw (not a land use bylaw). On 25 March 2026 the Executive Committee refused to approve it (resolution EC-2026-041) and recommended two notice methods only.

Thetis Island

  • Thetis Island Land Use Bylaw, 2011, Amendment No. 1, 2025. Read a first time on 3 February 2026 (resolution TH-2026-003). It adds nature-based shoreline protection structures as a permitted use at The Cut, in front of two lots on Blue Heron Road.
  • Thetis Island Land Use Bylaw, 2011, Amendment No. 1, 2026 (cisterns, fences, derelict vehicles). Drafted for first and second reading on 20 April 2026. The committee resolved not to proceed (TH-2026-019) and put the topic on its future projects list (TH-2026-020). It was never read.

Island by island

Denman Island

18 findings: 18 in bylaws not yet adopted

  • On Rural Residential lots of 4.0 hectares or more, the bylaw never says how many secondary dwelling units are allowed.
  • Four zones send proof of water to section 8.7(1), which is the rule about lot width and depth.
  • The Agriculture zone sends proof of water to section 2.19, and Part 2 stops at section 2.10.

Gabriola Island

16 findings: 11 in bylaws not yet adopted, 5 in bylaws in force

  • The policy that ties a covenant to land subdivided for special uses points at Policy 2.4.15.1, which is the general siting policy and lists no uses.
  • Section 2.11 says it specifies guidelines for each development permit area, and it contains none.
  • Bylaw 325 renumbers the development permit areas, and the guidelines in Land Use Bylaw 177 are filed under the old numbers.

Galiano Island

13 findings: 5 in bylaws not yet adopted, 8 in bylaws in force

  • Bylaw 300 creates the Small Island Residential zone, and its permitted-use clause grants the uses to a Boat Access Only zone, which does not exist.
  • Bylaw 300 defines dock for the whole bylaw as a private structure accessory to an upland home or farm, and the same bylaw and two marine zones use the word for community, public and commercial docks.
  • Bylaws 293 and 295 are zoning, and instead of setting the minimum average lot area they say that zoning shall establish it.

Gambier, Keats and the Associated Islands

8 findings: 2 in bylaws not yet adopted, 6 in bylaws in force

  • Gambier Island: Bylaw 163 brings District Lot 5925 and part of District Lot 477 into Plan 73, and leaves in force the clause that keeps the 1976 plan alive for those same lots.
  • Gambier Island: the draft of Bylaw 163 says a person mush have a provincial heritage permit to alter or develop with an archaeological site, and the eight corrections made at first reading did not include it.
  • Gambier Island: Plan 73 requires an environmental report prepared under Subsection 5 Guidelines of section 9.3 of Land Use Bylaw 86. Section 9.3 has four subsections, and the Guidelines are subsection (4).

Hornby Island

16 findings: 7 in bylaws not yet adopted, 9 in bylaws in force

  • Bylaw 177 deletes section 3.7 and renumbers the sections after it, and changes none of the places in Bylaw 150 that cite those sections by number.
  • The new bedroom guideline for vacation rentals says a permit should allow more than four bedrooms on a lot of 1.0 hectare or more.
  • Bylaw 177 allows 24 live/work units per lot in the PU(a) zone. Bylaw 150 defines a live/work studio, and defines it as a commercial use.

Lasqueti Island

6 findings: 2 in bylaws not yet adopted, 4 in bylaws in force

  • Under draft Bylaw 108 a lot of 64.73 hectares could be divided into more lots than a lot of 64.74 hectares, and the dwelling rule would no longer match the subdivision rule.
  • The new label draft Bylaw 108 writes for the Subdivision District map says "4.05 minimum parcel area" with no unit.
  • The enacting clause says the bylaw applies to the area shown on Schedule C. Section 2.1 says the area shown on Schedule B.

North Pender Island

30 findings: 7 in bylaws not yet adopted, 23 in bylaws in force

  • Bylaw 235 adds its key definition to Section 7.7(45) of the community plan, and section 7.7 has four subsections.
  • Bylaw 235 describes different critical-nesting and breeding date ranges for bald eagles without explaining which period controls each permit condition.
  • Small slips in Bylaw 235 as approved by the Executive Committee: a bracket never closed, a comma for a full stop, a misspelled and out of date Minister's title.

Salt Spring Island

19 findings: 5 in bylaws not yet adopted, 14 in bylaws in force

  • The Land Use Bylaw the Trust publishes as updated to June 2026 leaves out Bylaw 549, adopted in February 2026, and so has no Residential 13 zone.
  • Four subdivision rules rely on Schedules 1, 4, 5 and 9 to 12 of the community plan. The plan has one schedule, Schedule A, and its maps are called Map 1 to Map 28.
  • Bylaw 545, adopted 9 April 2026, rezones 248 Upper Ganges Road by amending Schedule 1 of the Land Use Bylaw. The zoning map is Schedule A, and there is no Schedule 1.

Saturna Island

25 findings: 1 in bylaws not yet adopted, 24 in bylaws in force

  • The RG(g) site-specific rule sets an average lot area of at least 7 hectares (1.78 acres). Seven hectares is about 17.3 acres, and 1.78 acres is about 0.72 hectares.
  • The RG(f) density rule is written as an exception to a subsection of the Rural Residential zone, and RG(f) is in the Rural General zone.
  • The Forest Residential density exception overrides the setback rule, not the density rule

South Pender Island

20 findings: 20 in bylaws in force

  • Bylaw 129, adopted on 16 March 2026, letters the Natural Resource house size rules (d), (e), (f), (e) and then relies on paragraph (c). The Trust's consolidation prints (a) to (d).
  • The definition of a resort hotel allows other uses set out in Section 11.1, and the bylaw ends at Part 8.
  • The subdivision water rule lets an owner grant a covenant tied to a certification under Subsection 4.4.3, which does not exist.

Thetis Island

4 findings: 4 in bylaws in force

  • The rule against dumps and grazing in a Water Resources Area says the area is shown on the Schedule A zoning map. Schedule A is the text; the zoning map is Schedule C.
  • Land Use Bylaw 89 cites sections 946 and 911 of the Local Government Act and the Water Act. None can be found under those names today.
  • The Valdes Island bylaw, consolidated in November 2024, still takes its authority from the Municipal Act and regulates by reference to the Forest Land Reserve.

Ballenas-Winchelsea Islands

4 findings: 4 in bylaws in force

  • All five land zones send the park and conservation exemption to subsection 7.2(1)(b), which does not exist. The exemption is 7.1(1)(b).
  • The bylaw defines a zone as one established by Part 5. The zones are established by Part 4.
  • Section 7.3 relies on section 946 of the Local Government Act. The residence for a relative provision in the Act published today is section 514.

Bowen Island

3 findings: 3 in bylaws in force

  • The CD 12 zone (Greenway West) sets a smaller detached suite despite subsections 3.54.4 and 3.54.5. Section 3.54 is the rule about survey plans and has no subsections.
  • The CD 10 zone (Ruddy Potato) allows an accessory dwelling subject to 4.24.1(2) and 4.24.1(3). Section 4.24 is the gas station zone. The conditions are 4.23.1(2) and 4.23.1(3).
  • In Part 3 the number 3.24 is printed beside item .4 of section 3.23, the rule that should be 3.24 has no number, and there are no sections 3.14, 3.25 or 3.26.

Mayne Island

8 findings: 8 in bylaws in force

  • The third-reading plan text said Gabriola; the adopted consolidation says Mayne. Ask for the signed amendment and correction record.
  • The new flexible housing policy lists the areas that flexible housing should exclude, and the last item on the list is the instruction exclude water services areas.
  • The new small-unit cluster housing policy applies within one kilometre of Miners Bay or in an area designated on Schedule to this Plan. It does not say which schedule, and the plan's list of schedules has none for that use.

How this was done, and what it cannot show

The text comes from the Islands Trust’s own PDFs, read line by line so that a number such as 64.0 is not broken into pieces. Each copy records the address it came from and a fingerprint of the file. A script follows every cross-reference in a bylaw and lists the ones whose target does not exist, and a person then reads each one, because the script is often wrong: most of what it first reported for Salt Spring and Galiano turned out to be provisions that exist. It is also blind to the commoner fault, a reference that lands on a real section about something else, which only reading finds. So each island page also lists what was checked and found sound. In Lasqueti’s land use bylaw the script found all fifty cross-references pointing at provisions that exist, and reading turned up one slip it could not see.

What this cannot show: whether a rule is wise, whether it is enforced, or what a court would make of it. An error in a cross-reference is not proof of anything except that the text was not read before it was passed. A bylaw with no findings has been checked for these things and no others. Our copies are convenience copies; where one disagrees with the Trust’s PDF, the PDF governs.