Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee special meeting, February 27, 2024

[0:00:43] Voice 4: hello everyone out there i'm rob pingel i am the islands trust legislative clerk

[0:00:49] Voice 4: we are here for a special meeting um trustee peterson our chair from lesquite island is

[0:00:57] Voice 4: having connection issues um and so we're working to have him join in and we have some other

[0:01:08] Voice 4: other people that are attending and I'm promoting them to panelists. So we'll work through that

[0:01:18] Voice 4: list. I still have not seen trustee Peterson. My apologies for the delay. He's having password

[0:02:22] Voice 4: issues. It's a new experience for me.

[0:02:53] Trustee Patrick (probable): Rob, do you want me to just start the meeting or

[0:02:56] Trustee Patrick (probable): Or should we just wait for Tim to be sorted out?

[0:03:01] Voice 4: Well, as it stands, we have a gathering of people, not a meeting.

[0:03:08] Voice 4: And so no minutes will be taken because we don't have a quorum of trustees.

[0:03:15] Voice 4: And that is why I am attempting to be getting Tim online.

[0:03:25] Voice 4: line but um i think if we give it five more minutes and see how we can go with tim uh apologize again

[0:03:45] Voice 4: um we will make a decision then as per our rules is factor 30 minutes we don't have a quorum then

[0:03:55] Voice 4: he's asking me to sign it no option to just

[0:04:06] Voice 4: Pour a glass

[0:04:36] Voice 14: of wine and relax.

[0:04:40] Voice 4: That's the way to do it.

[0:04:42] Trustee Patrick (probable): Yes, unfortunately, I have a big glass of water.

[0:04:47] Voice 8: Is it snowing

[0:04:53] Trustee Patrick (probable): where everyone's located?

[0:04:56] Voice 14: No, not so far.

[0:04:59] Trustee Patrick (probable): It's

[0:05:00] Voice 14: a bit of rain.

[0:05:01] Trustee Patrick (probable): Just a rain.

[0:05:03] Trustee Patrick (probable): It's snowing to beat the band at my house.

[0:05:05] Trustee Patrick (probable): Wow.

[0:05:06] Trustee Patrick (probable): Where are you, Laura?

[0:05:08] Trustee Patrick (probable): I'm up off of Stewart.

[0:05:10] Trustee Patrick (probable): okay oh

[0:05:11] Voice 8: my goodness yep

[0:05:13] Trustee Patrick (probable): the trees are white it's very pretty wow

[0:05:35] Voice 12: it's only three degrees here but not enough to freeze I guess

[0:05:41] Trustee Patrick (probable): one here we

[0:06:09] Voice 1: always think after

[0:06:10] Voice 1: we've had some nice weather that we're out of the woods and spring is coming but my my grandfather

[0:06:15] Voice 1: always loved to tell about the time in I don't know the 40s that on April the 5th or 6th there

[0:06:22] Voice 1: There was four feet of snow by Foxglove, yes.

[0:06:26] Voice 1: So along

[0:06:27] Voice 1: that stretch of the road.

[0:06:29] Voice 1: So we're

[0:06:31] Voice 14: not out of the woods yet.

[0:06:33] Voice 14: Must have been that damn climate change.

[0:06:35] Voice 1: Yeah, back in 1940.

[0:06:38] Voice 1: Yeah.

[0:06:50] Trustee Patrick (probable): Well, it is February.

[0:06:54] Trustee Patrick (probable): Should still have winter.

[0:06:57] Voice 14: Yeah, the flowers are blooming.

[0:06:59] Voice 14: The daffodils are up.

[0:07:02] Voice 12: Crocuses.

[0:07:03] Voice 14: Yeah, the Easter lilies are coming up.

[0:07:07] Voice 8: Oh, snowdrops.

[0:07:09] Voice 8: Yeah, it's all there.

[0:07:21] Voice 12: We didn't have to provide a password to get into this meeting.

[0:07:27] Voice 4: I'm confused as well.

[0:07:29] Voice 4: You're supposed to get a special link.

[0:07:32] Voice 4: Yeah.

[0:07:33] Voice 4: It's supposed to just be smooth as silk.

[0:07:35] Voice 4: So I'm going to allow a caller to talk and see if they are trustee Peterson.

[0:07:47] Voice 4: Hey.

[0:07:48] Voice 4: Hello, trustee Peterson.

[0:07:51] Voice 5: I have no idea why it's only trying to allow me to host.

[0:07:58] Voice 5: It's not giving me an option to join.

[0:08:02] Voice 5: And probably because it's already being hosted, I don't know.

[0:08:07] Voice 5: Anyway, I don't know enough about it.

[0:08:08] Voice 5: For whatever reason, this is the second time the alternate host link seems to be the problem.

[0:08:13] Voice 15: Yeah, I'll

[0:08:14] Voice 5: stop doing that.

[0:08:16] Voice 5: Maybe it's the regular, whatever it is,

[0:08:22] Voice 3: panelist or whatever.

[0:08:24] Voice 3: Have you tried just sending

[0:08:25] Voice 4: an invite?

[0:08:27] Voice 4: I've tried sending an invitation.

[0:08:30] Voice 4: I keep

[0:08:31] Voice 5: getting the alternate host assignment, though, and it's not a panelist invite.

[0:08:36] Voice 5: yeah

[0:08:38] Voice 4: and but i thought that both hosts could be here uh because that's happened for whatever

[0:08:44] Voice 5: reason it doesn't want to let them right

[0:08:46] Voice 4: and i can't change that and i think if i leave it

[0:08:50] Voice 4: will be an issue um chris as a co-host yeah i mean we if if if you're comfortable on the phone

[0:09:13] Voice 4: I'm a little concerned

[0:09:17] Voice 4: that I'm going to run out of battery power

[0:09:19] Voice 4: to be honest

[0:09:20] Voice 4: that's a good one

[0:09:21] Voice 4: so

[0:09:27] Voice 4: all the invitations I've sent you

[0:09:30] Voice 4: have been

[0:09:34] Voice 4: not saying

[0:09:35] Voice 4: not letting you in

[0:09:38] Voice 5: when I go to it it says start it

[0:09:40] Voice 5: and that's the only one

[0:09:42] Voice 5: and if I go to

[0:09:44] Voice 5: a join meeting it's asking me for

[0:09:46] Voice 5: ID or personal link name

[0:09:48] Voice 5: and then it's still not setting me up

[0:09:54] Voice 5: there's

[0:09:54] Voice 5: nothing that I can get into

[0:09:56] Voice 5: so I

[0:10:01] Voice 4: just sent

[0:10:02] Voice 4: emailed a link and that link

[0:10:04] Voice 4: doesn't like that's the same

[0:10:06] Voice 4: link because I haven't actually seen

[0:10:08] Voice 4: the link so

[0:10:09] Voice 15: I just sent

[0:10:10] Voice 15: you an email with

[0:10:13] Voice 5: I'm going to try Laura just sent me the

[0:10:15] Voice 5: panelist link let me try that

[0:10:17] Voice 5: I

[0:10:20] Trustee Patrick (probable): just sent him the same link I had

[0:10:22] Trustee Patrick (probable): might have two Laura's

[0:10:28] Voice 5: That's working. Okay. I'm going to hang up and see

[0:10:33] Voice 4: you on the screen in a second.

[0:10:34] Voice 4: Thank you, sir. Sorry for that. There we go. Two Lauras. Security.

[0:10:49] Voice 6: Okay. Hi, everybody. Sorry about that.

[0:10:53] Voice 6: Bless me.

[0:10:57] Voice 6: And I am showing up as trustee Patrick as well.

[0:11:01] Voice 4: I can change that for you, I believe. We'll see who comes. There you go.

[0:11:06] Voice 4: so we

[0:11:08] Voice 12: are recording

[0:11:09] Voice 4: and live streaming uh trustee peterson and we have a forum so

[0:11:13] Voice 4: i'll take it over to you or hand it over to you well

[0:11:18] Voice 6: and then in that case i would like to uh

[0:11:22] Voice 6: belatedly call this meeting of the special meeting of the salt spring island local trust

[0:11:27] Voice 6: committee uh to order and acknowledge that we're meeting across the territories of many

[0:11:34] Voice 6: Nicosia-ish peoples today, and to be respectful of that.

[0:11:39] Voice 6: And Trustee Patrick, as he has joined, thankfully,

[0:11:45] Voice 6: and so that means we do have a quorum despite the absence of Trustee Harris.

[0:11:52] Voice 6: So I guess we could do, do we want to do a round of introductions,

[0:11:58] Voice 6: or have I taken up so much time we just want to get straight to business?

[0:12:04] Voice 6: Happy to hear from folks.

[0:12:06] Voice 6: Yeah.

[0:12:09] Trustee Patrick (probable): I think a quick intro makes sense.

[0:12:14] Voice 6: All right. Well, I'll start then.

[0:12:16] Voice 6: My name is Tim Peterson.

[0:12:17] Voice 6: I'm elected on Luskete Island Hwayate.

[0:12:21] Voice 6: And I'm the chair of the Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee.

[0:12:27] Voice 6: And I'll pass it over to Trustee Patrick.

[0:12:30] Trustee Patrick (probable): Laura Patrick, Trustee.

[0:12:32] Trustee Patrick (probable): I think I know everybody.

[0:12:38] Voice 6: And then if you folks want to just self-select

[0:12:41] Voice 6: and quickly introduce yourselves that'd be great

[0:12:43] Voice 14: ken byron member of aac all

[0:12:49] Voice 8: right conrad pilon

[0:12:50] Voice 8: member of the aec i'll have to be leading the meeting at about 6 15. um there's a meeting of

[0:12:56] Voice 8: the farmers institute annual general meeting this evening okay

[0:13:02] Voice 11: go ahead lawrence if you want

[0:13:06] Voice 11: no

[0:13:07] Voice 2: you go kevin

[0:13:08] Voice 11: okay uh kevin chipperfield um farmers institute and um on the um egg alliance

[0:13:23] Voice 1: marguerite lee farmers institute and egg reliance deborah

[0:13:29] Voice 12: miller um transition salt

[0:13:32] Voice 12: spring on the egg alliance and

[0:13:39] Voice 7: macy um iron natural growers and on the ag alliance board

[0:13:43] Voice 7: I'm

[0:13:47] Voice 8: Bree Eagle I'm the chair of the AAPC

[0:13:50] Voice 8: and

[0:13:51] Voice 13: I'm Sheila Dobie I'm on the Farmland Trust

[0:13:54] Voice 13: co-chair and on the Ag Alliance as well

[0:13:58] Voice 2: Lawrence Eppinger and I'm on Island Natural Growers

[0:14:05] Voice 9: Anna Pugh I'm Chamber of Commerce and on the Ag Alliance

[0:14:09] Voice 9: board

[0:14:10] Voice 9: Great

[0:14:15] Voice 6: and we also have

[0:14:19] Voice 6: Regional Planning Manager Chris Hutton with us

[0:14:22] Voice 6: and uh sarah sugar our recorder and uh legislative clerk rob pinkle is there um and uh i'm not aware

[0:14:36] Voice 6: that we have and if i apologize uh an agenda specific agenda before us we

[0:14:45] Trustee Patrick (probable): do but there's

[0:14:47] Trustee Patrick (probable): not much

[0:14:48] Voice 12: on it okay and there's brie eagle as well hi

[0:14:55] Voice 6: brie oh okay um so is there anything that needs

[0:15:01] Voice 6: to be added to the agenda i'm not sure why i don't have that or or can we take it as the agenda as

[0:15:07] Voice 6: presented that's fine

[0:15:09] Trustee Patrick (probable): it's just a general discussion

[0:15:11] Trustee Patrick (probable): of agricultural priorities is all

[0:15:13] Trustee Patrick (probable): that's on the agenda chair

[0:15:15] Voice 3: yes sir um do we have a an item on the agenda to discuss uh a next

[0:15:22] Voice 3: meeting on this um on this agenda if we could add that to the end i would i think that would

[0:15:28] Voice 3: be very prudent uh acknowledging that we haven't met quite some time yeah

[0:15:34] Voice 6: that seems like a

[0:15:35] Voice 6: reasonable uh addition to the agenda uh if there's no objection to that then let's let's amend the

[0:15:43] Voice 6: agenda by adding next meeting as item five okay so that being the case let's go right ahead and

[0:15:52] Voice 6: get into the um discussion of the agricultural priorities and who is going to lead off here is

[0:16:02] Voice 6: that brie yeah exactly

[0:16:05] Voice 6: or is that someone else i

[0:16:09] Trustee Patrick (probable): think it's a general discussion i'm wondering um

[0:16:12] Trustee Patrick (probable): What might be helpful is if I hate to call on our regional planning manager Hutton, but we have some projects coming up for planning projects and it might, if you could give a, you know, 30,000 foot review of what's coming, because that will help on priority conversations.

[0:16:29] Voice 3: Sure. I think, well, thank you, Trustee Patrick, the chair. I can, I can provide a little bit of an outline of that.

[0:16:39] Voice 3: We are currently where we're at with our major projects is with regards to the central piece of it, I guess, is updating the official community plan and the land use bylaw.

[0:16:53] Voice 3: That update is more or less focused around how can we improve the situation for housing on the island, obviously.

[0:17:02] Voice 3: Obviously, there are a number of other matters since the OCP was adopted in 2008 that need to be addressed to this group specifically of interest to be improving the relationship with First Nations and building engagement around that, as well as acknowledging climate change.

[0:17:27] Voice 3: We currently have GHG reduction targets in our Fisher Community Plan, but we have some work to do around climate change in our Fisher Community Plan.

[0:17:37] Voice 3: As you may know, the Islands Trust as a whole is coming out with a new policy statement, so we anticipate that the SOSBP will also need to respond to any changes in the policy statement as well.

[0:17:51] Voice 3: all. So prior to all of that, though, what we've got is a, we have received a complete communities

[0:17:57] Voice 3: grant for $150,000. That grant is aimed at sort of, our pitch was gathering baseline data and

[0:18:07] Voice 3: trying to gather information around, we have a lot of data in places like the North Salt Spring

[0:18:13] Voice 3: Waterworks District and the Capital Regional District and various organizations and entities.

[0:18:17] Voice 3: And so this is primarily a mapping exercise, but it really is about identifying what the various layers of servicing and natural assets and cultural assets and everything else, how those overlap and what that sort of reveals in terms of primarily where we have options for additional housing, as well as identifying other challenges and opportunities in the community.

[0:18:47] Voice 3: So that data we're hoping will guide

[0:18:49] Voice 3: a lot of the planning work that we do.

[0:18:51] Voice 3: So rather than a blue sky perspective,

[0:18:54] Voice 3: we're trying to funnel this down

[0:18:56] Voice 3: into some of the on the ground realities

[0:18:58] Voice 3: and providing a better degree of coordination

[0:19:01] Voice 3: of all these data points.

[0:19:03] Voice 3: So I think it's sort of a bit of the Island Trust

[0:19:05] Voice 3: and the Local Trust Committee

[0:19:07] Voice 3: taking the role of coordination a bit more strongly

[0:19:10] Voice 3: than we have in the past and working with our partners.

[0:19:14] Voice 3: and then from so we'll do the the grant uh with that information we'll move into the ocp and we'll

[0:19:19] Voice 3: be moving into a land use bylaw amendment um to sort of update our zoning bylaw um primarily i

[0:19:26] Voice 3: think to uh reflect the ocp but also probably to address some interpretation issues and some

[0:19:32] Voice 3: things that have changed over the last uh what 25 years since the ocp the land use bylaw was adopted

[0:19:39] Voice 3: opted uh to to just improve how it reads it improve how it functions um one of the things

[0:19:45] Voice 3: I was talking about with someone today is if you have a lot of variance permits and you don't have

[0:19:48] Voice 3: a lot of actual problems um you're probably needing to change your bylaws so those types

[0:19:54] Voice 3: of things are what we're sort of looking to reduce the um reduce some of the stringency but also

[0:19:59] Voice 3: improve some of the performance around that bylaw um so on the topic of collaboration uh where that

[0:20:06] Voice 3: that overall project is, is we have a, we are actually just in the process of checking references

[0:20:11] Voice 3: to award a contract to the community's grant. And we are also working to develop a communications

[0:20:18] Voice 3: and engagement strategy for the next steps, which is the OCP LEV process, which is going to talk

[0:20:26] Voice 3: about things from First Nations to public and local organizations. So those are kind of the

[0:20:31] Voice 3: broad interest holder groups that we have. So the 30,000 square foot level, of course, but

[0:20:37] Voice 3: that consultation process and how we engage with various aspects of the community and gather that

[0:20:44] Voice 3: data and use that data will be a big part of what happens over the next few months. We'll be talking

[0:20:50] Voice 3: a little bit about that. So that's probably pretty much the next 18 months or so. Beyond that,

[0:20:57] Voice 3: We're getting into sort of a Ganges master plan as well, looking at that area as well.

[0:21:03] Voice 3: That's where we're at right now.

[0:21:08] Voice 6: Thank you, Mr. Hutton.

[0:21:09] Voice 6: And I'll just look to see if there's anything to add from Trustee Patrick, and then I'll see if there's questions or comments.

[0:21:19] Voice 6: Anything from you, Trustee Patrick?

[0:21:21] Trustee Patrick (probable): Well, I think the good news is everything's early.

[0:21:24] Trustee Patrick (probable): And I know this group, it's from food security to climate change and the impacts on our food security and agriculture, to me, and housing are locked and intimately involved.

[0:21:38] Trustee Patrick (probable): So I think that would be a good conversation to have is, you know, what kind of hopes and expectations from our agricultural community, how we can work better to help you on making sure our community documents are well aligned in this time period and for the future that's coming.

[0:22:03] Voice 6: Hey, thank you for that. I see, Macy, you have your hand up. Please go ahead.

[0:22:07] Voice 6: Thank

[0:22:08] Voice 7: you. We have had some concerns in the past about the bylaws. And when we last had these conversations, it was in July 22, I think we sent in a letter concerning changes we wanted, because we'd like the composting bylaw to be looked at and made more favorable to farmers, basically.

[0:22:34] Voice 7: So I'm hoping that in this process that's going to be happening, that those particular concerns we can revisit and try and get some understanding because it seemed to us, and we've had conversations since, that the way the composting regulations and the bylaw are written, it does not capture what is actually happening.

[0:23:00] Voice 7: and it doesn't allow farmers to do what they are doing or need to do or there's no clarity around

[0:23:07] Voice 7: it it maybe doesn't prohibit it but there's no clarity so there's this gray area between the

[0:23:12] Voice 7: difference between a it's basically the difference between a compost as a farm product and commercial

[0:23:19] Voice 7: composting i mean we're because farmers do bring on other materials other than what they generate

[0:23:27] Voice 7: on their own farm to compost and they use it and they sometimes sell some but they're not a

[0:23:33] Voice 7: commercial composting operation so the bylaw doesn't cover that and there may be other bylaws

[0:23:38] Voice 7: that if once we start looking closely i mean that's the one we come up against most often

[0:23:43] Voice 7: that if there's going to be a revision process it would be good to get that happening or at least

[0:23:50] Voice 7: get it reviewed we were

[0:23:53] Voice 7: also just finished quickly we were also quite concerned that we sent this

[0:23:57] Voice 7: letter in and we didn't get any response it just went into this hole and this was a letter sent

[0:24:02] Voice 7: after several discussions like this and so how the process is going to work is a bit of a concern for

[0:24:10] Voice 7: us so um you know we welcome this opportunity but we'd like to to be confident that the effort we

[0:24:19] Voice 7: put into this and the proposals we make are actually considered thank you great

[0:24:24] Voice 6: thank you uh

[0:24:26] Voice 6: If

[0:24:26] Voice 3: I may, Mr. Chair, I just wanted to get some clarity, you know, I probably was joined

[0:24:33] Voice 3: the island just after that letter was sent.

[0:24:36] Voice 3: When was that letter sent?

[0:24:37] Voice 3: Can you let me know?

[0:24:41] Voice 7: July 2022.

[0:24:44] Voice 7: 7th.

[0:24:45] Voice 1: July 7th.

[0:24:46] Voice 7: July 7th.

[0:24:47] Voice 3: July 7th.

[0:24:48] Voice 3: Okay.

[0:24:49] Voice 3: Exactly.

[0:24:49] Voice 3: Okay.

[0:24:50] Voice 3: And that went to LTC or that went to the staff?

[0:24:54] Voice 7: I think it was.

[0:24:56] Voice 3: okay perfect um and just so that i understand the the conflict around composting is more around the

[0:25:06] Voice 3: that there is a scale sort of between the there's provincially regulated commercial composting

[0:25:11] Voice 3: um that is you know that's under that permit and we have sort of essentially industrial scale

[0:25:17] Voice 3: composting but there's a and between that and residential compost there is a need to identify

[0:25:23] Voice 3: identify some sort of the agricultural scale composting that includes not only on-site inputs

[0:25:30] Voice 3: but some degree of local off-site inputs is that accurate okay correct

[0:25:37] Voice 7: and we'd also like the land

[0:25:39] Voice 7: that's in the ALR and agricultural zone to be treated in the same way not differently we've

[0:25:46] Voice 7: had comments in the past where it's well the alc regulations allow farmers to bring in feedstocks

[0:25:54] Voice 7: from off off farm so they're okay but if you're in a just owned agricultural the alc the lr

[0:26:02] Voice 7: regulations don't apply so they weren't allowed to that kind of messiness okay

[0:26:09] Voice 15: yeah yeah thank

[0:26:13] Voice 6: you for that and of course sometimes when there's um a little grayness in the regulation that's uh

[0:26:22] Voice 6: it is can be confusing or or gray and and sometimes being a little more more explicit

[0:26:28] Voice 6: can be helpful um anyone else questions comments looking for hands

[0:26:37] Trustee Patrick (probable): i found the letter and sported

[0:26:39] Trustee Patrick (probable): it to chris and to sarah

[0:26:41] Voice 6: marvelous uh marguerite yes

[0:26:45] Voice 1: um i was reassured in the opening comments

[0:26:48] Voice 1: about the idea of working together with the different components that you uh have to consider

[0:26:56] Voice 1: um there's three essentials for life uh clean water air and of course healthy food um and

[0:27:04] Voice 1: And dealing with current issues, these elements must be considered together in order that their relationship and impact upon each other is clearly noted.

[0:27:16] Voice 1: They can't be issues that are dealt with one off. It's a combination.

[0:27:23] Voice 1: So this means that when we're dealing with social, economical or environmental issues that are being considered, agriculture must be included as a primary factor.

[0:27:33] Voice 1: it's not secondary and it's not an also ran topic subjects like housing water and climate change

[0:27:44] Voice 1: they need to have agricultural included in the discussion because it's that discussion

[0:27:50] Voice 1: in relationship to each other that is absolutely essential for it to be efficient so any

[0:27:59] Voice 1: Any decision that's made in housing or climate change or water has a direct bearing on the other essential elements.

[0:28:14] Voice 1: So I think it's really important that agriculture be treated as one of those essentials and be included in the conversation.

[0:28:23] Voice 1: conversation. Farmers must be able to produce food, whether it's on ALR land or whether it's

[0:28:29] Voice 1: on land that is used for agriculture. And as Anne pointed out, the ALR designation simply protects

[0:28:36] Voice 1: some of the land. But of course, not all agricultural land is in the ALR and it's

[0:28:43] Voice 1: still used for agriculture. So my point is, please consider agriculture in your other topics.

[0:28:51] Voice 1: It is of utmost importance.

[0:28:56] Voice 6: Thank you for that.

[0:28:58] Voice 6: And I certainly, certainly agree.

[0:29:03] Voice 6: Any more comments, questions?

[0:29:09] Voice 6: Conrad?

[0:29:12] Voice 8: I'll mute myself first.

[0:29:14] Voice 8: A couple of years ago, the ALC opened up the whole issue of housing and led it to allow a lot more housing on ALR land for farm workers and for other uses as well.

[0:29:28] Voice 8: Well, I'm just wondering what kind of uptake has been going on on the island.

[0:29:33] Voice 8: I've not heard any big changes about farm worker needs or about what's going on in that area.

[0:29:40] Voice 8: Has there been any kind of uptake in farm housing and relief of farm housing on various places in the ALR or across the island because of these changes?

[0:29:52] Voice 8: Just curious.

[0:29:53] Voice 8: Well,

[0:29:57] Trustee Patrick (probable): I know we adopted...

[0:30:00] Trustee Patrick (probable): We adopted the bylaw 526, I believe it was,

[0:30:03] Trustee Patrick (probable): right at the end of the term to put those housing in.

[0:30:09] Trustee Patrick (probable): So I don't know if staff have seen any observations

[0:30:12] Trustee Patrick (probable): of anyone, you know,

[0:30:15] Trustee Patrick (probable): cause they'd see the building permits.

[0:30:16] Trustee Patrick (probable): I don't know.

[0:30:18] Voice 8: I was just curious because we worked on this

[0:30:21] Voice 8: in the last review of the area farm plan in 2018,

[0:30:24] Voice 8: I should say 2020.

[0:30:26] Voice 8: and Tony. It was one of the big pieces

[0:30:30] Voice 8: in terms of housing and whatnot and housing workers. And I was just curious

[0:30:34] Voice 8: that all of a sudden the goalpost got moved and

[0:30:37] Voice 8: we never got feedback in terms of what's going on, in terms of

[0:30:42] Voice 8: if there was any greater demand for it and what the

[0:30:45] Voice 8: Islands Trust had been impacted by zoning changes or anything

[0:30:50] Voice 8: like that. I've not heard anything. So I was just curious about the impact. That's all.

[0:30:54] Voice 8: Yeah. Kevin?

[0:31:03] Voice 11: Yes. Further to the discussion on the ALR lands, I lived in Abbotsford for 20 years and I saw the degradation of the agricultural land, not in terms of taking land out of the ALR immediately,

[0:31:25] Voice 11: But what I saw people do was, especially on the smaller acreages, move in, use them as storage lots, put machinery businesses on them, various things, non-agricultural things that were taking place, and primarily on the two to five acre parcels.

[0:31:50] Voice 11: And I'm just so I'm concerned about that on Salt Spring.

[0:31:55] Voice 11: I know there's no real concern at this point, but I'm wondering what is the plan for the future when if the population increases and there is more demand to find storage lots and things like that, cheap storage lots, because ALR land is generally cheaper.

[0:32:15] Voice 11: so people tend to build a build a warehouse on it or whatever and I'm

[0:32:22] Voice 11: really concerned about the degradation of the land from that perspective which

[0:32:26] Voice 11: is not generally looked at until it's too late okay

[0:32:34] Voice 6: and where it's one of the

[0:32:36] Voice 6: difficulties there is if if the ALC specifically allows it we can't disallow

[0:32:44] Voice 6: allow it so that makes it well if

[0:32:47] Voice 11: it's non-agricultural you can not allow it because

[0:32:50] Voice 11: when i was on the um agricultural committee in abbotsford it was brought up many times for

[0:32:57] Voice 11: discussion on whether that activity would be allowed because it's non-agricultural yeah i

[0:33:06] Voice 6: was just thinking about things like the um the added housing and such that the lc has brought

[0:33:12] Voice 6: brought in which the for example the that's one example where the local trust committee can't

[0:33:17] Voice 6: supersede that yeah so um

[0:33:23] Voice 11: i'm gonna

[0:33:24] Voice 11: go will there be any thought to that though i mean will there be

[0:33:27] Voice 11: i'm very concerned about it

[0:33:29] Voice 3: it's pretty common um concern in in agricultural policy um the reality

[0:33:35] Voice 3: is that that farming is essentially a light industrial activity and lends itself you know

[0:33:42] Voice 3: if we don't regulate appropriately to higher levels more intense of industry um because of the

[0:33:49] Voice 3: you know the fact that it is rural land that it often is at a lower price point so um i think it's

[0:33:55] Voice 3: reasonable that we you know within the the agricultural land commission act and the right

[0:34:02] Voice 3: Right. The Violent Deliberate Farm Act. We can we can certainly explore ways that we, you know, what what our industrial land use situation is and what the need is.

[0:34:17] Voice 3: Certainly, I know that we have done recent considerations of industrial land based on Salt Spring Island.

[0:34:25] Voice 3: That said, it's not exactly intended to be an industrial community beyond agriculture.

[0:34:30] Voice 3: culture um think about it that way so there's there is certainly a conversation to be had

[0:34:35] Voice 3: around that topic and how do we uh ensure uh definitely not the first time i've seen it where

[0:34:41] Voice 3: you know um a business might start off as a you know it might start off as just being

[0:34:46] Voice 3: a farm with a lot of machines and you know over 25 years it evolved into a truck mechanics you

[0:34:53] Voice 3: know um or a truck dealership so um there's a risk there uh to be sure and it's something that

[0:34:59] Voice 3: We may have to look at, I think, probably more through the land use bylaw in terms of what the explicit use classes are and how they're defined.

[0:35:08] Voice 3: It's certainly definition is definitely one area where we find a lot of sticking points and a lack of evolution with the changes in agricultural policy over the last two and a half decades.

[0:35:21] Voice 11: Yeah, I'm just concerned that we're ahead of the curve on it.

[0:35:24] Voice 11: that's all and it doesn't get pushed to the side because it's a very important issue on long-term

[0:35:30] Voice 11: use of agriculture and so i mean i mean i think maybe we should you know be discussing how to

[0:35:39] Voice 11: make something like that happen you know in the next several years okay

[0:35:50] Voice 6: um sheila yes thank you

[0:35:55] Voice 13: And I think I'd like to just go back to Conrad's question, because I don't believe it was really answered, and perhaps it can't be answered right now in this meeting, but it also begs a question to me, and I'm new to this gathering and this process with Islands Trust and with an agricultural lens and representation, but he's asked a really good question,

[0:36:21] Voice 13: And it relates a little bit to what Kevin has also asked about, and that is, can this particular role with agricultural interests and sector without trust receive information like such what Conrad has asked about, you know, the impact of the change of housing regulation on farmland?

[0:36:42] Voice 13: What has happened with that? Is there been an uptake? And also, too, a scan about agricultural land being pressured and demands to do, you know, maybe more sketchy kind of uses that might put some of our agricultural qualities and value at risk.

[0:37:03] Voice 13: And so it's a curiosity question, a process question about this particular format and gathering and whether or not we can have that kind of exchange of information and dialogue about this, these kinds of issues.

[0:37:19] Voice 13: issues so I'm hoping that if you can't answer the question then perhaps maybe we can at the

[0:37:27] Voice 13: next meeting have this placed on the agenda so that we can get some clarity about what

[0:37:32] Voice 13: what's the inputs what are the inputs as we offer our questions and if they can't be answered right

[0:37:38] Voice 13: away then how can they be referred to in the future date thank

[0:37:46] Voice 6: you and trustee Patrick yeah

[0:37:52] Trustee Patrick (probable): The province is now requiring that we upgrade our housing needs assessment, and they're going to be dictating a formula.

[0:38:00] Trustee Patrick (probable): We haven't seen that formula yet, but I'm willing to bet it's going to be very urban-esque, just, you know, tingly feeling.

[0:38:09] Trustee Patrick (probable): And I know we've been talking about it at the Regional Planning Committee, which is the overall federation body that helps work with the land use planning, as to making sure that once we see this formula, that we can play with it and make sure that the data that we're collecting is useful to the islands.

[0:38:31] Trustee Patrick (probable): Because why do a housing needs assessment if it doesn't meet our basic needs?

[0:38:36] Trustee Patrick (probable): And so I think this is an opportunity to raise that issue in particular, to be nice in our housing needs assessments, which we will be required to do every so many years, that we look at is the agricultural housing.

[0:38:48] Trustee Patrick (probable): Because it is a specific issue that has always come up as a specific issue.

[0:38:53] Trustee Patrick (probable): So, you know, that's something I think we can mark both at the local trust committee and look at the regional planning committee when we start looking at how we're going to respond to the province's demands.

[0:39:06] Trustee Patrick (probable): Because I think it is good data.

[0:39:09] Trustee Patrick (probable): We need to have that data and understand what's happening.

[0:39:12] Trustee Patrick (probable): and

[0:39:15] Voice 6: um trustee patrick maybe you know this but uh uh has there been a salt spring housing needs

[0:39:24] Voice 6: assessment since the province or since he has those alc rules change or we just have a total

[0:39:30] Voice 6: lack of data on that

[0:39:31] Trustee Patrick (probable): the last housing needs assessment was done by the crd to the pretty

[0:39:35] Trustee Patrick (probable): standard formula so you know it did not look at agricultural housing as a separate item but i

[0:39:41] Trustee Patrick (probable): I think in a rural island of Salt Springs importance,

[0:39:43] Trustee Patrick (probable): I think we should kind of demand it.

[0:39:47] Voice 6: Okay, yeah, that's certainly something to flag

[0:39:49] Voice 6: for when we get into doing that.

[0:39:51] Voice 6: Anne?

[0:39:55] Voice 7: On the housing issue,

[0:39:58] Voice 7: I think one of the things that I don't know,

[0:40:03] Voice 7: that I can't necessarily prove it,

[0:40:05] Voice 7: but I get the sense that the new regulations

[0:40:08] Voice 7: or the changes in regulations

[0:40:10] Voice 7: just made several people come into compliance,

[0:40:13] Voice 7: which was a good thing maybe they weren't before but um but you can't really measure that because

[0:40:20] Voice 7: they wouldn't fess up to being out of compliance in the first place but the the other concern is

[0:40:26] Voice 7: that that i'm seeing is this idea of seasonal housing for seasonal workers and what the season

[0:40:35] Voice 7: is on salt spring there's i'm not sure where the regulations are i should um but you know like if

[0:40:42] Voice 7: If you've got a trailer, it's got to be moved off in six months or something and it can't stay in a certain area for long because it's seasonal and people can't live in it year round.

[0:40:52] Voice 7: But the season on Salt Spring is pretty year round.

[0:40:55] Voice 7: So that's one of the challenges I think people find.

[0:41:02] Voice 7: And I don't know whether there's any way around that, but it's something if we're exploring housing on agricultural land, that's one of the issues that I hear about.

[0:41:16] Voice 8: You know, and just to answer to your question, in all my years on the AAC, and Ken would back me up on this and so would Bree, we had more meetings regarding housing and in terms of allowing for additional housing for workers on the ALR properties than we had probably, I would say 50% anyways.

[0:41:40] Voice 8: waste. I've not had a meeting at the AAPC on housing since the changes were made. So there

[0:41:51] Voice 8: you go.

[0:41:55] Voice 6: Ken, I think I saw your hand up there earlier. I don't know if you still had something

[0:41:58] Voice 6: you wanted to...

[0:41:59] Voice 14: Yeah, I was just going to comment about the industrial aspect of this.

[0:42:07] Voice 14: and in my years on the aac i also sat on two different committees to explore the industrial

[0:42:19] Voice 14: needs of islanders and it never ever seemed to go anywhere we never ever saw any land added

[0:42:29] Voice 14: to the industrial zone and as much as some people may hate the word industry it's a zoning it's a

[0:42:42] Voice 14: zone and there really is a a need for industrial lands um i know of one contractor here that's

[0:42:53] Voice 14: running afoul of his neighbors and he needs a place to do business and there's just nothing

[0:43:01] Voice 14: available. And so we're forcing people to be out of compliance with the bylaws. So I think it's

[0:43:11] Voice 14: something that seriously needs to be looked at again.

[0:43:20] Voice 6: Thank you for that.

[0:43:22] Voice 6: Well,

[0:43:23] Trustee Patrick (probable): can I, I was gonna say, if I could follow up, Ken's absolutely

[0:43:25] Trustee Patrick (probable): right. I have, I don't know

[0:43:29] Trustee Patrick (probable): if you know, Daniel Mazzica, who was the former Dean of the School of Business at UBC, lives on

[0:43:34] Trustee Patrick (probable): on salt spring has for like over 20 years and he talks about how you know how the the industrial

[0:43:41] Trustee Patrick (probable): commercial land it's it's necessary for the the island we have to have that base if it disappears

[0:43:49] Trustee Patrick (probable): it affects all of us because that means people are having to come from off island so that we

[0:43:54] Trustee Patrick (probable): have to be looking at that type of land like the agricultural land and the land that we need to

[0:43:59] Trustee Patrick (probable): to function as an island.

[0:44:01] Trustee Patrick (probable): We should be preserving and protecting that land as well

[0:44:05] Trustee Patrick (probable): to make sure that we're not losing it, that we keep it.

[0:44:09] Trustee Patrick (probable): We do need to get better at that.

[0:44:16] Voice 6: Hey, anyone else?

[0:44:24] Voice 6: Marguerite?

[0:44:25] Voice 6: Yeah, oh, sorry.

[0:44:28] Voice 1: I agree that there is a need to get better,

[0:44:32] Voice 1: but there's also an awareness that just because it's easier

[0:44:38] Voice 1: to do it on flat agricultural land doesn't mean to say you can't do it on a rock pile uh you can

[0:44:44] Voice 1: build a house on a rock pile you can't build a carrot grow a carrot there um but you know it's

[0:44:51] Voice 1: much easier and cost effective to put um in the industrial zoning and commercial zoning and

[0:44:57] Voice 1: recreational zoning i mean you look at rainbow road and we've got schools and pools and everything

[0:45:03] Voice 1: on what was farmland we've got a fire hall going in where Mr. Beach had a dairy farm so yes it's

[0:45:13] Voice 1: easier and it's less expensive and I think we have to be very careful about that and that's

[0:45:20] Voice 1: what Kevin is so concerned about otherwise we're doing one spot zoning and it isn't effective in

[0:45:30] Voice 1: the long run thank

[0:45:35] Voice 6: you ken yeah

[0:45:38] Voice 14: i was just um kind of lost my train of thought but i think it was

[0:45:42] Voice 14: sorry no that's fine i think it was around the housing issue as well um just kind of echoing

[0:45:49] Voice 14: what comrade was saying earlier um that i think i've been on that the ag committee for

[0:45:57] Voice 14: for 25 years or better and it's always been a topic it has never gone away and we just

[0:46:06] Voice 14: don't ever seem to gain any ground around the housing issue maybe it'll happen with the

[0:46:13] Voice 14: new regulations coming from the provincial government but i won't hold my breath uh mark

[0:46:26] Voice 6: great?

[0:46:27] Voice 1: There's two types of housing concern. The one that really is of a concern for us,

[0:46:33] Voice 1: of course, is farm worker housing and how that can be accommodated. So as Anne says,

[0:46:39] Voice 1: it's not seasonal, etc. There's also the need for low income housing and the need for

[0:46:48] Voice 1: the blue collar workers. They're not low income, but there's no place for them to live

[0:46:53] Voice 1: on salt spring and so there's these different types of um housing that is needed on salt spring

[0:47:01] Voice 1: and it has we have to consider all of them but at the same time not take the agricultural land

[0:47:09] Voice 1: because if we have people living in houses and they don't have food it just isn't going to work

[0:47:24] Voice 6: Wouldn't agree with you more. Anyone else? Conrad?

[0:47:36] Voice 8: Yeah, just to the point that Trustee Patrick raised about agricultural land,

[0:47:43] Voice 8: loss of agricultural land on the island. In 2007, when we did the original area farm plan,

[0:47:50] Voice 8: we had a very strong policy about no net loss of agricultural land on Salt Spring.

[0:47:56] Voice 8: And I think that if you're going to take land out of the ALR for whatever purpose, there should be a compensation for that ALR land or a gift to the agricultural community.

[0:48:07] Voice 8: And that's how the root became the root, because that's how when Segg Lumber got the property beside the root, in exchange for that, they donated land for the root.

[0:48:19] Voice 8: I think that it should be clear, perhaps, in policy in the future, that if there's going to be any loss of agricultural land on the island, that there'd be a compensation either in terms of replacing that parcel of land or allowing for a compensation that the agricultural community can discuss with the Islands Trust.

[0:48:38] Voice 8: And that was very much part of our, one of the priorities of the original area farm plan.

[0:48:44] Voice 8: Thank you.

[0:48:45] Voice 8: That's

[0:48:50] Voice 6: a good idea.

[0:48:52] Voice 6: Did I see your hand, Sheila?

[0:48:54] Voice 6: No.

[0:48:54] Voice 6: uh ann we've

[0:48:58] Voice 7: had some discussions amongst ourselves and with salt spring solutions

[0:49:03] Voice 7: people about housing and so following up on what conrad was saying not only compensation but we did

[0:49:10] Voice 7: conclude that we wanted no net loss which effectively means that you have to exchange

[0:49:16] Voice 7: you have to find somebody willing to put land into the alr for example if you're taking some out

[0:49:22] Voice 7: which is a challenge in itself granted but and the other point about that though it has to be

[0:49:28] Voice 7: the same quality land otherwise gradually the land agricultural quality of the land will

[0:49:35] Voice 7: gradually deteriorate so it's it's difficult but we did we did say well maybe it does make sense

[0:49:44] Voice 7: depending on the nature of the land to increase densities within Ganges for example where there

[0:49:49] Voice 7: There are some ALR lots, but we were only willing to think about that if somebody was going to protect, really protect some land for agriculture elsewhere on the island in exchange.

[0:50:07] Voice 6: Laura, you're muted.

[0:50:14] Trustee Patrick (probable): Yes, there's been some conversation, I know, circling in after the report that, you know, Salt Spring Solutions poked and said we should look at that, especially in and around Ganges.

[0:50:24] Trustee Patrick (probable): Do you think there is an appetite for taking a look at this from a community perspective? Because I think we have seen sort of one-offs where somebody comes in and they want to take their piece out or do a non-farm use on this piece.

[0:50:39] Trustee Patrick (probable): Do you think there's value to do sort of a community take a look and say, well, there's some parcels that are in the ALR that will never be farmed or that there are other parcels that are being farmed and we could reconcile and do a no net loss sort of one time correction or update?

[0:51:01] Trustee Patrick (probable): Yeah,

[0:51:08] Voice 13: I'd like to respond to that. And I think yes, would be the short answer that yes, I think there is a community appetite for that kind of conversation. And I, I think that's that document gives us a lot, a lot of a lot of data and suggestions on how we could approach that conversation from cluster housing, sustaining the agricultural, the agricultural values of a piece of property.

[0:51:37] Voice 13: especially so close to a quasi-urban area that could still offer housing

[0:51:43] Voice 13: and that it still offers food production.

[0:51:46] Voice 13: So, yes, I think there has to be, actually, for that kind of high-profile area.

[0:51:55] Voice 13: And I'm disappointed that we didn't have similar kinds of conversation

[0:51:58] Voice 13: around that land with the fire hall.

[0:52:00] Voice 13: But, yeah.

[0:52:05] Voice 6: Kevin, did I see your hand?

[0:52:08] Voice 11: Yes.

[0:52:09] Voice 11: I just wanted to, I guess, put a little different perspective on it,

[0:52:16] Voice 11: and that is that losing any agricultural land

[0:52:22] Voice 11: diminishes our financial sustainability of the agricultural industry

[0:52:29] Voice 11: through losing critical mass.

[0:52:32] Voice 11: And the more land that we can save and put into production

[0:52:37] Voice 11: um will benefit agriculture from many perspectives um from maybe a processing plant or

[0:52:46] Voice 11: um maybe just having the mass critical mass of producers that they will have um an ability

[0:52:54] Voice 11: to um expand their their enterprises um so i i'm concerned about the concept of

[0:53:04] Voice 11: of exchanging agricultural land

[0:53:07] Voice 11: or taking ALR land out of production and period.

[0:53:13] Voice 11: And because we might lose the ability

[0:53:17] Voice 11: to produce more foods in the future.

[0:53:21] Trustee Patrick (probable): What if we increased, not use a no net loss,

[0:53:24] Trustee Patrick (probable): but actually increased agricultural land?

[0:53:27] Trustee Patrick (probable): Would that be more appetizing?

[0:53:29] Trustee Patrick (probable): Sorry, using agricultural land?

[0:53:30] Voice 11: As long as the lands are just as productive

[0:53:32] Voice 11: as they were beforehand, sure.

[0:53:36] Voice 11: And we mustn't forget as well, though,

[0:53:39] Voice 11: that agriculture isn't just soil-based.

[0:53:42] Voice 11: Agriculture is livestock barns, it's greenhouses,

[0:53:49] Voice 11: it's, you know, whatever products producers can sustainably produce.

[0:53:59] Voice 6: Lorenz?

[0:54:03] Voice 6: You have to unmute.

[0:54:05] Voice 6: unmute.

[0:54:09] Voice 2: I just wanted to add, as I was hearing a comment from Frusty Patrick,

[0:54:16] Voice 2: it's the difficulty with land exchanges. There's so much more than just exchanging land for land.

[0:54:22] Voice 2: There's access to water, soil fertility. Kevin just pointed out all kinds of other factors for

[0:54:30] Voice 2: different types of agriculture that may not be strictly soil-based. And quite frankly, we have

[0:54:36] Voice 2: very small agricultural base on salt spring considering our population as it

[0:54:42] Voice 2: stands and from what I'm hearing you want to increase the population so if

[0:54:48] Voice 2: anything there should be added to to to the agricultural land to support that

[0:54:55] Voice 2: that would be my point so

[0:54:59] Trustee Patrick (probable): it's because no one's wanting to increase population

[0:55:04] Trustee Patrick (probable): it's happening but it's it's not a name I'm

[0:55:11] Voice 2: not sure what you mean by that but

[0:55:13] Voice 2: yeah Kevin yes

[0:55:18] Voice 11: the one thing I think that's lacking is that there is no

[0:55:24] Voice 11: priority areas for non ALR land for agriculture and you know I think in the

[0:55:32] Voice 11: the ocp there they should there should be dig um identified areas that um have the greatest

[0:55:43] Voice 11: potential for future agriculture and versus areas that are the least potential and and i don't think

[0:55:51] Voice 11: that from i mean i might be wrong on this but i have never seen anything like that no that's

[0:56:03] Trustee Patrick (probable): That's a good point, because I think in the OCP, it identifies lands that could potentially be added for industrial.

[0:56:11] Trustee Patrick (probable): But I agree.

[0:56:13] Trustee Patrick (probable): I don't think I've seen where there's been priority land identified for addition for agriculture.

[0:56:24] Voice 6: Marguerite?

[0:56:26] Voice 1: I think we have to also consider, currently we think of agriculture as digging in the soil, planting some seeds, and growing food.

[0:56:38] Voice 1: or having crops that will sustain our cattle or our sheep or whatever we're doing.

[0:56:45] Voice 1: And we haven't really thought about what happens if someone wants to expand a greenhouse vertically, say,

[0:56:58] Voice 1: instead of in a traditional manner of using soil in a greenhouse situation.

[0:57:04] Voice 1: situation. Agriculture is changing so rapidly in Europe, and of course, so are the protests, but

[0:57:11] Voice 1: I think you have to be very careful when you put rules in place that you're not limiting the future

[0:57:19] Voice 1: development of agriculture, because it will change. Anyone

[0:57:36] Voice 6: else? Anna. Hi,

[0:57:45] Voice 9: this might be

[0:57:46] Voice 9: somewhat off topic, but kind of ties in with what Marguerite was saying about the changing face of

[0:57:52] Voice 9: agriculture in particular. But is there an estimated lifespan for an OCP? It seems to me

[0:57:59] Voice 9: that the Islands Trust OCP has been in place for far longer than normal without review. But I guess

[0:58:06] Voice 9: this is a question for Mr. Hutton, whether there's a normal time span for that, because that might

[0:58:11] Voice 9: inform a little bit about what we might want to see within an OCP if it's something that is likely

[0:58:16] Voice 9: to be more dynamic and more likely to be looked at within a shorter period of time versus decades

[0:58:23] Voice 3: so so far unless i'm forgetting another piece of provincial legislation so far there's no

[0:58:29] Voice 3: set timeline for um for ocps however there is a sort of a general practice of um

[0:58:38] Voice 3: they typically should should have a vision about 20 years out which is why you might

[0:58:43] Voice 3: might OCP being adopted today might say, you know,

[0:58:47] Voice 3: couch in 2050 or, you know,

[0:58:50] Voice 3: Sanich 2020, 2045 or something like that.

[0:58:56] Voice 3: So that's typically what we look for in terms of a goal setting.

[0:59:01] Voice 3: And then they typically, you know,

[0:59:03] Voice 3: like anything that you would set a goal for over more than a week or so you,

[0:59:08] Voice 3: you go back and visit that and you try to identify goals that you can or

[0:59:13] Voice 3: actions that you can put in place so in in most cases we get to about 10 years down the line when

[0:59:19] Voice 3: we start to in most communities look at um is this ocp still serving us some actually go into

[0:59:27] Voice 3: a heavy program of implementation and monitoring so they're actively measuring uh what

[0:59:33] Voice 3: what these actions have done and are they meeting the goals that we've we've set out to achieve

[0:59:38] Voice 3: achieve and are those goals still purposeful and you know we talked about the pace of change in

[0:59:42] Voice 3: agriculture and that's true in the rest of the world as well of course given the last if you

[0:59:47] Voice 3: look at the last five years um so are the goals that our ocp has you know still still valid and

[0:59:55] Voice 3: are they you know are our actions meeting those you know achieve leading

[1:00:00] Voice 3: towards achievement of those goals so typically in in most cases there's a you know that ongoing

[1:00:06] Voice 3: would be about something somewhere in terms of reporting of about every two years with reviews

[1:00:11] Voice 3: every five years those are very intensely managed ocps typically in more urban environments rural

[1:00:16] Voice 3: areas tend to go a little bit longer so um but we are we are definitely due for a good look at our

[1:00:22] Voice 3: official community plan as a community and um and going from there but there's also a you know i

[1:00:29] Voice 3: I think it's also recognizing right now we are in a bit of a, you know, well, not a bit of a pretty historic crisis in a number of areas where so we need to be very direct and intentional about our actions.

[1:00:42] Voice 3: Whereas before, I think things were a little bit more high level and less directive.

[1:00:48] Voice 3: I think OCPs need to be a lot more clearly stated, I guess.

[1:00:53] Voice 3: Yeah,

[1:00:58] Voice 6: I'll just add that in terms of the acceleration of changes in things like agricultural methods, this sort of 20-year timeline for OCPs sort of doesn't quite keep up.

[1:01:18] Voice 6: And I know there's been challenges across the Islands Trust area just to get the desired reviews and updates accomplished, you know, in the context of other work.

[1:01:33] Voice 6: so this next round is certainly important for you folks with the from the agricultural perspective

[1:01:43] Voice 6: to get um to be engaged and to and and to get uh your thoughts and priorities uh front and center

[1:01:53] Voice 6: to the ltc uh and you're muted you you have to unmute yourself yeah

[1:02:12] Voice 7: um yeah so just wondering

[1:02:15] Voice 7: what kind of process or mechanism we could have to make sure that we keep track of it i mean i

[1:02:24] Voice 7: personally if you send me a direct email i'll look at it but if i'm expected to notice in the paper

[1:02:30] Voice 7: that there was a public meeting about some agricultural issue i might miss it so will there

[1:02:37] Voice 7: be a way that you will keep us informed or when these things are happening directly rather than

[1:02:44] Voice 7: just as part of the general thing out to the public mr

[1:02:49] Voice 3: chair um there will be a way um i don't

[1:02:53] Voice 3: have that way right now the report is actually just sitting in my inbox right now from my planner

[1:02:57] Voice 3: uh to talk about that on march 7th about what that way is going to be so

[1:03:01] Voice 3: uh we'll be looking to the local trust committee to uh endorse that process uh so you know the

[1:03:09] Voice 3: The AAPC is one of multiple APCs that we have that we will be asking the LTC how they want to engage that group through this process.

[1:03:22] Voice 3: And then we'll be also looking at local organizations and groups such as the Agricultural Alliance and how we engage them as well.

[1:03:31] Voice 3: will um so and from that we'll pretty much follow a process of um communication engagement um to to

[1:03:39] Voice 3: varying degrees um not necessarily based on the individual organization but more based on

[1:03:45] Voice 3: on whether you're an apc or as you mentioned you know you have your your local organizations and

[1:03:50] Voice 3: you know how we communicate with them versus just general public so uh we won't expect you to read

[1:03:56] Voice 3: the driftwood with with uh with bated breath or anything like that to find out what's going on

[1:04:02] Voice 3: um we'll be we'll be looking to push that out to local organizations i think um as best we can so

[1:04:09] Voice 3: and that the specific listing of organizations the discussion will have ongoing it'll be evolving but

[1:04:14] Voice 3: um i think it's certainly fair to say that the aapc and egg alliance are two

[1:04:19] Voice 3: to key entities in the community that need consideration,

[1:04:24] Voice 3: need to be on those,

[1:04:25] Voice 3: on the lists of various interest holders that we have.

[1:04:30] Voice 3: So more to come, I guess, is the bottom line thing.

[1:04:33] Trustee Patrick (probable): Well, I'd like to follow up.

[1:04:35] Trustee Patrick (probable): We've been pushing the local trust committee

[1:04:39] Trustee Patrick (probable): is we need to get better at our engagement

[1:04:42] Trustee Patrick (probable): and we have been asking for it and so that we can,

[1:04:47] Trustee Patrick (probable): this is a community, the OCP is your document.

[1:04:50] Trustee Patrick (probable): it's our document I would even like to see all of our logos on the front not

[1:04:55] Trustee Patrick (probable): the islands trust it's it's the you know it's salt spring what does that look

[1:04:59] Trustee Patrick (probable): like so yeah

[1:05:05] Voice 6: and I was gonna say that mr. Hutton's addition to the agenda

[1:05:09] Voice 6: there around the next meeting is sort of one window towards towards looking at

[1:05:14] Voice 6: that question um about keeping in contact oh

[1:05:24] Voice 13: so i'm just suggesting

[1:05:27] Voice 15: can we go ahead

[1:05:27] Voice 13: can we choose

[1:05:29] Voice 13: a date that is relevant for that process so that it's i mean i don't know whether you can say that

[1:05:37] Voice 13: right now but i'm just suggesting that um if we could place it so that it can um uh inform that

[1:05:44] Voice 13: that process and have us engaged in that process

[1:05:46] Voice 13: rather than just a general conversation.

[1:05:52] Voice 6: I'm gonna look to Mr. Hutton

[1:05:54] Voice 6: and see if he's got thoughts on that.

[1:05:59] Voice 3: Yeah, I think that really is the formal processes

[1:06:03] Voice 3: is what will be developed through the consultation

[1:06:06] Voice 3: and engagement plan and the communication

[1:06:09] Voice 3: and engagement plan that we're going to LTC.

[1:06:12] Voice 3: So there will be a formalized strategic process

[1:06:16] Voice 3: us and then we'll we'll follow up with um with those groups and

[1:06:29] Voice 6: then in the context of of setting

[1:06:31] Voice 6: a next meeting um ah right

[1:06:35] Voice 6: this group here today so

[1:06:38] Voice 3: i think um i i'm this is my first time attending

[1:06:41] Voice 3: one of these meetings we have previously been biannually or quarterly uh meeting prior to i

[1:06:50] Voice 3: i think covid or um i

[1:06:53] Voice 7: think we had three a year we had three dates in the year

[1:06:57] Voice 3: okay yeah well

[1:07:00] Voice 3: people about four months out we're looking at um june i suppose we

[1:07:05] Trustee Patrick (probable): also tried to time our meetings

[1:07:07] Trustee Patrick (probable): with the agricultural season i

[1:07:09] Voice 3: kind of figured that was coming yeah so we can

[1:07:12] Trustee Patrick (probable): do this at six

[1:07:12] Voice 3: in the morning i guess right um so is i'm guessing june is not a great time then

[1:07:21] Voice 4: this

[1:07:25] Voice 3: is a i mean we

[1:07:26] Voice 3: can certainly workshop this uh we can do it online if you'd like to do another meeting do do is there

[1:07:32] Voice 3: a desire from the group mr chair to do these meetings um continue them tri-annually or is

[1:07:38] Voice 3: this a discussion that you'd like to to have with the group uh

[1:07:43] Voice 6: i think i think it's worthy

[1:07:44] Voice 6: of discussion um that the timing of course is is important for uh everyone's availability

[1:07:51] Voice 6: availability and i think i i heard the sort of an implicit question in terms of the uh the rollout

[1:08:00] Voice 6: of um work on the ocp you know when is when is the appropriate time for us to have a meeting so that

[1:08:09] Voice 6: the input comes into the work that's going on the ocp at the right time i sort of think

[1:08:16] Voice 6: that was a

[1:08:17] Voice 6: a bit implied there i

[1:08:18] Voice 3: think i think the you know when it comes to the project work um the the you

[1:08:24] Voice 3: know this this or this meeting sort of responds to the needs of the agriculture alliance and the

[1:08:30] Voice 3: project also will will respond to the needs of the community but um to some extent the community has

[1:08:35] Voice 3: to respond to the process um given that our our process of getting to a trigger point to launch

[1:08:43] Voice 3: this ocp as we've discussed with the road map there is a point which will have some preliminary

[1:08:48] Voice 3: results from the complete communities grant at which point we'll be wanting to to advance the um

[1:08:54] Voice 3: the ocp um review um that's a bit up in the air right now i'd have a hard time pinning down an

[1:09:04] Voice 3: exact date there are uh concurrent outreach processes that go with these steps that should

[1:09:10] Voice 3: should be built into the plan um so that's what we're we're looking to to finalize but

[1:09:16] Voice 3: until that's finalized it's not really easy for me to give you a very clear idea on when

[1:09:22] Voice 3: we could potentially meet to make sure that we capture uh input uh this group at the appropriate

[1:09:28] Voice 3: time okay

[1:09:32] Voice 6: and then i'm just sort of thinking out loud here uh the complete communities

[1:09:39] Voice 6: communities uh needs to be uh that part of the project needs to be wrapped up end of august

[1:09:50] Voice 6: um and so i guess the question to this group is uh do we want to meet again before the end of august

[1:09:59] Voice 6: or um in the fall or what's what seems appropriate i guess i feel like we're drifting towards that

[1:10:07] Voice 6: last item on the agenda but um if there's other things to to bring up please please you know

[1:10:13] Voice 6: please raise your hand and we can we can have more discussion but um just around the timing of of

[1:10:20] Voice 6: of the next meeting what uh what if folks think well

[1:10:28] Trustee Patrick (probable): without the benefit of seeing the report

[1:10:30] Trustee Patrick (probable): that's in his in basket um so we we don't see the activities that are coming in front of us

[1:10:34] Trustee Patrick (probable): I think this group, I mean, your organizations will be pinged in what's going on with the complete communities, but I think there'd be a benefit of the joint group of us talking together before the report is made final so that we could talk through some of perhaps your, you know, what are you seeing or the reactions and things of that nature.

[1:10:58] Trustee Patrick (probable): So there definitely would be a benefit to meet before the report is final.

[1:11:07] Voice 6: Okay.

[1:11:11] Voice 6: And then again, of course, without the benefit of that timeline,

[1:11:14] Voice 6: we know the complete community part needs to be,

[1:11:20] Voice 6: it has a deadline in August.

[1:11:23] Voice 6: So are you thinking, Trustee Patrick,

[1:11:26] Voice 6: are you thinking before that deadline?

[1:11:28] Voice 6: I actually don't know when the reporting has to happen.

[1:11:31] Voice 6: So sometime between now and August, but

[1:11:35] Voice 3: not too soon.

[1:11:37] Voice 3: It's likely the complete communities process,

[1:11:39] Voice 3: process. If it goes strictly to the timeline, it would be coming in August. Preliminary

[1:11:45] Voice 3: results ought to be available, I would think, if there's a desire to stay ahead of the summer

[1:11:49] Voice 3: season. I don't know if May is any better for the agricultural sector, but if there's

[1:11:57] Voice 3: a month that works better for a check-in date, we can frame it as a check-in date, and I'll

[1:12:04] Voice 3: just say that expectations will pretty much be wherever the project's at. That's as much

[1:12:09] Voice 3: as i can i can offer um at that time so um and there may be other things you want to talk about

[1:12:14] Voice 3: not everything is a complete communities report and i don't think i can say this enough not

[1:12:19] Voice 3: everything is an efficient community plan there's so much work that we have to do outside of those

[1:12:23] Voice 3: policies and bylaws and uh i'm sure there's lots that we can we can talk about there as well

[1:12:30] Voice 6: yeah certainly so i think what i'm getting a bit of a sense is some sometime um

[1:12:38] Voice 6: late May or June, and I just want to look to the folks in the room here

[1:12:42] Voice 6: and see I'm seeing a bunch of nodding heads and thumbs up.

[1:12:47] Voice 6: So do we want to sort of leave that a little amorphous

[1:12:50] Voice 6: and go for late May, early June as a general thing,

[1:12:55] Voice 6: or do we want to try and set a date?

[1:12:59] Voice 6: I'll look to staff on.

[1:13:02] Voice 3: Mr. Chair, I think we can take the note,

[1:13:05] Voice 3: and I think Mr. Pingel is here,

[1:13:08] Voice 3: year. So we can certainly take that forward and work to identify a date. We'll work again

[1:13:14] Voice 3: with the whole group electronically, if that works for everybody, to get an idea of a date.

[1:13:24] Voice 3: It's helpful to hear that there's an appetite for continuing a tri-annual meeting and going that way.

[1:13:32] Voice 3: And we can probably, just having an idea of what the frequency of the meeting is,

[1:13:36] Voice 3: is enough for us to go on if that works for everybody okay oh i think it's important that

[1:13:43] Voice 1: we have an advance warning um there was great confusion setting up this meeting uh because of

[1:13:49] Voice 1: last minute notice so if

[1:13:52] Voice 1: it's going to be may or june don't wait to may or june to decide on the

[1:13:55] Voice 1: date please give us a heads up long before that you are busy people as well so let's plan

[1:14:02] Voice 1: so mr

[1:14:04] Voice 3: Mr. Pagel is reminding me that we need to set a date, time, and place by resolution.

[1:14:10] Voice 3: So, again, we can decide that right now, or we can bring this back to the April meeting.

[1:14:19] Voice 3: So, we would probably just reach out and arrange with you over the next little while, and then LTC can pass that special meeting resolution in their regular meeting, if that works.

[1:14:30] Voice 6: That seems like a good idea to me.

[1:14:32] Voice 6: I mean, I know that on the staff end, you've got lots of stuff, including my calendar, Laura's calendar, and all the calendars of the other various bodies of the Highlands Trust to try and mesh with.

[1:14:49] Voice 6: So if everyone's content with that, we'll let staff work their magic and bring us something for the April LTC meeting.

[1:14:59] Voice 6: meeting and and then we could uh just try and get that if we've determined at that meeting then

[1:15:05] Voice 6: that that's uh mid-april i think so we should that should be plenty of notice hopefully for

[1:15:11] Voice 6: all you folks i don't see nodding heads yes okay great um so i wonder if there's anything

[1:15:22] Voice 6: Anything else anyone would like to say this evening?

[1:15:26] Voice 6: Are we ready to go put the chickens in, milk the cows, or just plain old have dinner?

[1:15:36] Voice 14: One comment.

[1:15:38] Voice 14: Yeah, I know water shortages on the island are a problem.

[1:15:44] Voice 14: them. And I just noticed that the provincial government is putting up $83 million to help

[1:15:53] Voice 14: farmers and ranchers dig dugouts for holding water. So I don't know if any local farmers

[1:16:02] Voice 14: around here are in the position that they need or have enough land that they want to dig dugouts,

[1:16:10] Voice 14: but it's something you might want to explore.

[1:16:15] Voice 6: Interesting.

[1:16:16] Voice 6: And I think I just saw something about the province spending some money to

[1:16:23] Voice 6: raise the dam at St. Mary's Lake, I believe,

[1:16:27] Voice 6: in the last couple of days.

[1:16:28] Voice 6: I don't

[1:16:30] Voice 14: think that'll ever happen.

[1:16:33] Voice 14: They'll have to leave that up to the beaver.

[1:16:35] Voice 6: Yeah.

[1:16:41] Voice 8: Conrad?

[1:16:41] Voice 8: Fred. Yeah, I'm sorry. I got out of a little supper here on my way to the Farmers Institute.

[1:16:46] Voice 8: So thank you very much. Well,

[1:16:50] Voice 8: thank you for chatting.

[1:16:51] Voice 6: And I think I think we're pretty

[1:16:53] Voice 6: close to wrapping here. I'm getting the sense. Anything else from anyone else or should we

[1:17:01] Voice 6: should we call it an evening? Not seeing a rush of hands. So I just want to thank you all

[1:17:09] Voice 6: um for for joining us tonight it's uh especially for myself as a non-resident um member of the

[1:17:18] Voice 6: local trust committee it's nice to see some faces and hear some of the the thoughts about the from

[1:17:24] Voice 6: the agricultural committee on salt spring so and i i when i when i do get the chance to be there i

[1:17:31] Voice 6: sort of look with some envy at some of the beautiful agricultural land you guys have over

[1:17:36] Voice 6: there we're pretty rocky down here on luskete we don't have uh we don't have very many spaces that

[1:17:42] Voice 6: are quite as open and glorious uh bottom line as you guys do so i see the importance of protecting

[1:17:49] Voice 6: that okay then well uh thanks everyone and uh i'll call the uh we'll call for adjournment here

[1:18:01] Voice 6: and uh have have a great evening everyone great and i look forward to speaking you to you late

[1:18:07] Voice 6: late may early june thank

[1:18:09] Voice 13: you so much for this thank you thank you for coming

Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee Minutes ADOPTED 1 
February 27, 2024 
  
 
Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee 
Minutes of Special Meeting 
 
 
Date: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 
  
Location: Electronic Meeting (Zoom) 
  
 
Members Present: 
 
 
Timothy Peterson, Chair 
Laura Patrick, Local Trustee   
Members Regrets: Jamie Harris, Local Trustee  
 
Staff Present: Chris Hutton, Regional Planning Manager (RPM) 
Rob Pingle, Legislative Clerk 
Sarah Shugar, Recorder 
 
Others Present: Bree Eagle, Agricultural Advisory Planning Committee Chair 
Ken Byron, Agricultural Advisory Planning Committee 
Conrad Pilon, Agricultural Advisory Planning Committee 
Kevin Chipperfield, SSI Farmers Institute and Agricultural Alliance 
Sheila Dobie, SSI Farmland Trust and Agricultural Alliance 
Lorenz Eppinger, Island Natural Growers and Agricultural Alliance 
Marguerite Lee, SSI Farmers Institute and Agricultural Alliance 
Anne Macey, Island Natural Growers and Agricultural Alliance 
Deborah Miller, Transition Salt Spring and Agricultural Alliance 
Anna Pugh, SSI Chamber of Commerce and Agricultural Alliance 
One member of the public 
These minutes follow  the  order  of  the  agenda  although  the  sequence  may  have  varied. The  electronic 
meeting was live streamed and recorded. 
1. CALL TO ORDER 
 
 Chair Peterson called the meeting to order at 5:13 p.m. He welcomed everyone to a Special meeting 
of  the  Salt  Spring  Island  Local  Trust  Committee and  introduced  himself, Trustee  Patrick and  staff. 
Chair Peterson humbly stated gratitude to live and work in Coast Salish First Nations territory. 
 
2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA 
 
 The following item was presented for inclusion in the agenda: 
 4. Next Meeting Date 
 
By general consent, the agenda was adopted as amended. 
 

 
 
Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee Minutes ADOPTED 2 
February 27, 2024 
  
3. DISCUSSION OF AGRICULTURAL PRIORITIES 
This  meeting  is  an  opportunity  for  the  Salt  Spring  Island  Local  Trust  Committee (LTC) to  have  a 
discussion  with  the  members  of  the  Salt  Spring  Island  Agricultural  Advisory  Planning  Commission 
(AAPC)  and  representatives  of  the  Salt  Spring  Island  Agricultural  Alliance  on  agriculture  related 
issues. RPM Hutton reported the LTC is currently working on the Official Community Plan (OCP) and 
Land  Use  Bylaw  (LUB) update  project and  highlighted  improving  the  housing  situation,  improving 
engagement   with   First   Nations,   acknowledging   climate   change   and   the   Islands   Trust   Policy 
Statement changes.  The  LTC  received  $150,000  Complete  Communities  Funding  and staff  is  in  the 
process  of  awarding  a Complete  Community  Assessment  Request  for  Proposals  (RFP)  to provide 
comprehensive data collection, analysis, and geospatial studies of the Local Trust Area. 
 
In discussion the following items were noted: 
 The  Agricultural Alliance  sent  a  letter  to  the  LTC  dated July 7, 2022 regarding composting 
regulations  in  Bylaw  355 and  it  included  a recommendation that  Bylaw  355  be  revised  to 
include “Composting of agricultural waste, where at least 50 per cent of the compost produced 
is  used  on-site,  is  a  permitted  use  in  all  zones  that  permit  agriculture”. The composting 
regulations in Bylaw 355 do not reflect what is actually happening. Concern was expressed that 
the  letter  was  not  acknowledged.  RPM  Hutton  advised  there  is  a  need  to identify  agricultural 
scale composting; 
 Clean  water,  air  and  healthy  food  are essential  for  life  and  need  to  be  considered  in  decision-
making.  Agriculture  must  be  considered  in  discussions  regarding  housing,  climate  change  and 
water availability; 
 There was a question regarding whether there has been uptake of farmworker housing within 
the Agricultural  Land  Reserve  (ALR) since the  AAPC  made  recommendations  to  increase 
farmworker  housing  as  part  of  the  2020  Salt  Spring  Island  Area  Farm  Plan  Renewal.  Trustee 
Patrick advised farmworker housing recommendations were incorporated into Bylaw 526; 
 There  was  a  question  regarding the  plan to  protect  farmland  from  the  pressure  of  non-
agricultural uses. RPM Hutton advised farming is a light industrial activity and the LUB needs to 
keep up with agricultural policy changes; 
 Will  the  Islands  Trust  provide information to  the  agricultural  sector regarding impacts of 
housing  regulation  changes on  farmland and  the  pressures on  agricultural  land  that  puts 
agricultural values at risk; 
 Trustee  Patrick  reported  the  Province is  requiring  a  Housing  Needs  Assessment. The  Regional 
Planning  Committee  has  been  working  on ensuring  that  the  formula  for  the Housing  Needs 
Assessment will meet the needs of the island communities. Agricultural housing data should be 
included  in the  Housing  Needs  Assessment  and  the  last  Housing  Needs  Assessment  was 
completed by the CRD and did not include agriculture housing as a separate item; 
 Bylaw 526 brought several properties into compliance and the uptake is difficult to measure; 
 Seasonal housing regulations for farmer worker housing is a challenge as the farming season is 
year-round; 
 There was a comment that there is a need for industrial zones; 
 Trustee  Patrick  reported Former  UBC Sauder  School  of  Business  Dean  Daniel  Muzyka has 
spoken  to how  industrial  zones  are  necessary  for  a  healthy  island  community.  Trustee  Patrick 
expressed that the LTC needs to do a better job to preserve and protect industrial zoned areas 
to support the island community; 

 
 
Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee Minutes ADOPTED 3 
February 27, 2024 
  
 There  was  a  comment  that it  is  easier  to  put  commercial, industrial and  recreational uses  on 
farmland because it is flat and cautioned against using farmland for other uses. It was noted the 
Rainbow  Road  Indoor  Pool  is  located  on  farmland  and  the  new  fire  hall  property  was  a  dairy 
farm in the past; 
 Low income,  workforce  housing and  farmworker  housing  need  to  be  accommodated  while 
protecting farmland for food security; 
 The 2007 SSI Area Farm Plan included a provision for compensation for any loss of ALR and it is 
important that land that is added into the ALR is good quality for farming;  
 Trustee Patrick asked if there is a benefit to reconcile and do a no-net loss or increase update of 
farmland on SSI. Support was expressed that there is support in the agricultural community for 
an assessment of farmland on SSI; 
 There is  a  small  agricultural  base  for  the  population  on  SSI. Adding agricultural  land should 
include consideration of access to water and soil fertility; 
 The OCP should identify priority areas with greatest to least agricultural potential; 
 There was a question regarding whether there is an estimated lifespan for an OCP. RPM Hutton 
advised there is no set timeline for OCP’s although best practice is to include a 20-year timeline 
and some communities include an action plan to track OCP goals with 5-year reviews; 
 Chair Peterson advised a 20-year OCP may not keep up to changes in technologies;  
 Will the  LTC keep  the agricultural  community  informed  through  the  OCP/LUB  project.  RMP 
Hutton  advised the  OCP/LUB  project  charter  would  include  a formalized  engagement and 
referral process with the Agricultural community. 
 The  Complete  Communities Assessment report  must  be completed before  the  end  of  August 
2024 and preliminary results may be available in May 2024; 
 The Provincial  government  has  announced an $83  Million  fund  to  help farmers  dig water 
retention ponds. 
 
4. NEXT MEETING 
 
By  general  consent, the  Salt  Spring  Island  Local  Trust  Committee  agreed  to  schedule three 
meetings per year with the Agriculture Community representatives and schedule the next meeting 
in late May or early June 2024. 
  
5. ADJOURNMENT 
 
 By general consent the meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m. 
 
 
 
_________________________ 
Timothy Peterson, Chair 
 
CERTIFIED CORRECT: 
 
 
_________________________ 
Sarah Shugar, Recorder