Community Articles
General News · 28th February 2025
Mark Vonesch
It’s been a busy beginning to 2025 and I need your input.
Maximum House Size Survey
As part of our zoning bylaw review process, I have asked SRD staff to release a survey to measure the interest in capping the maximum house size on Cortes. This would apply to all new builds as a way to close the door on people buying property on Cortes to build mansions.
If we did regulate maximum house size, it would only apply to new builds. Larger homes that are already built would be “grandfathered” in. If someone decided to build something larger, the SRD would have the legal authority to force them to conform to the regulated size.
What do you think? Should we include a maximum house size in our zoning bylaw? If so, what should the maximum size be?
Please fill out this very short survey now to have your voice heard and share it with everyone you know on Cortes. We are collecting responses until noon on Friday, March 7th:
https://srd.ca/cortes-zoning-bylaw-review/
My interview with Cortes Currents goes into more details about the decision we face:
https://cortescurrents.ca/should-there-be-a-maximum-size-for-houses-on-cortes-island/#more-132922
We’ve Started Building Housing!
This is huge news. The Cortes Housing Society has started clearing the land at Rainbow Ridge to start building up to seven new housing units. Using local materials and a crew of local builders, this marks a new beginning after years of work by our community to build publicly owned affordable housing on Cortes.
The Cortes Housing Society is also going to build a bathing, laundromat and sauna facility on the property that will be open to the public, which is good news for so many people who have relied on the Gorge Harbour for these facilities. With the SRD’s Board’s support, I am hoping to use Cortes allocated gas tax funding to support this part of the project.
The Cortes 3% short term rental tax, that tourists pay when they book accommodation, has been supporting the Cortes Housing Society since it was implemented in 2023 and is now raising $50,000 per year towards all their efforts.
Land Sharing Forum
Are you interested in ways to make land ownership more affordable? There are a number of creative models for shared land ownership and there is a public forum next Saturday, March 8th from 10am - 12pm on Zoom where you can ask questions and learn from experts about workable models for sharing land.
Join us on Zoom here:
https://zoom.us/j/93632747123?pwd=5IP8zDLPMHlxGwoCdknZhnv2suIyVC.1
Admin cost allocations at the SRD
There is a lot of economic uncertainty in the world right now and I have worked hard in this years budget process to not have property tax increases.
However, in our February board meeting Campbell River suggested that the cost allocation for administration at the SRD was unfair. I have not seen any evidence of this unfairness but am open to the discussion and supported a motion that the discussion be referred to a meeting for everyone to discuss that specific issue in depth.
When that motion was passed, essentially delaying any changes until we better understand the issue, Campbell River suggested they will use their weighted vote at the next meeting to change the SRD budget so that they pay less.
The SRD budget needs to be passed at our next board meeting on March 26th, so we’re down to the wire. I hope we can come to a solution that is fair and equitable.
Cortes Currents breaks down the issue here:
https://cortescurrents.ca/possible-srd-breakdown-campbell-river-vows-to-cut-payments/
Provincial Short Term Rental Registry
The province has mandated that all short term rentals and short term rental platforms in the province must register. If you are running a short term rental that advertises publicly, you need to register it before May 1st. There is a registration fee that depends on what type of rental you have. If you register by today there is a 50% discount on the fee and a 25% discount if you register before March 31st.
Details and registration details can be found here:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/short-term-rentals/registry
Please reach out if you have any questions or want to chat about anything in this newsletter or to share your ideas. I'm also into meeting in person over a coffee if you want to get together and chat more in depth about an issue or something you care about.
In service,
Mark
Mark Vonesch
Cortes Island Regional Director
at the Strathcona Regional District
mvoneschsrd.ca
250-202-4422
Maximum House Size Survey
As part of our zoning bylaw review process, I have asked SRD staff to release a survey to measure the interest in capping the maximum house size on Cortes. This would apply to all new builds as a way to close the door on people buying property on Cortes to build mansions.
If we did regulate maximum house size, it would only apply to new builds. Larger homes that are already built would be “grandfathered” in. If someone decided to build something larger, the SRD would have the legal authority to force them to conform to the regulated size.
What do you think? Should we include a maximum house size in our zoning bylaw? If so, what should the maximum size be?
Please fill out this very short survey now to have your voice heard and share it with everyone you know on Cortes. We are collecting responses until noon on Friday, March 7th:
https://srd.ca/cortes-zoning-bylaw-review/
My interview with Cortes Currents goes into more details about the decision we face:
https://cortescurrents.ca/should-there-be-a-maximum-size-for-houses-on-cortes-island/#more-132922
We’ve Started Building Housing!
This is huge news. The Cortes Housing Society has started clearing the land at Rainbow Ridge to start building up to seven new housing units. Using local materials and a crew of local builders, this marks a new beginning after years of work by our community to build publicly owned affordable housing on Cortes.
The Cortes Housing Society is also going to build a bathing, laundromat and sauna facility on the property that will be open to the public, which is good news for so many people who have relied on the Gorge Harbour for these facilities. With the SRD’s Board’s support, I am hoping to use Cortes allocated gas tax funding to support this part of the project.
The Cortes 3% short term rental tax, that tourists pay when they book accommodation, has been supporting the Cortes Housing Society since it was implemented in 2023 and is now raising $50,000 per year towards all their efforts.
Land Sharing Forum
Are you interested in ways to make land ownership more affordable? There are a number of creative models for shared land ownership and there is a public forum next Saturday, March 8th from 10am - 12pm on Zoom where you can ask questions and learn from experts about workable models for sharing land.
Join us on Zoom here:
https://zoom.us/j/93632747123?pwd=5IP8zDLPMHlxGwoCdknZhnv2suIyVC.1
Admin cost allocations at the SRD
There is a lot of economic uncertainty in the world right now and I have worked hard in this years budget process to not have property tax increases.
However, in our February board meeting Campbell River suggested that the cost allocation for administration at the SRD was unfair. I have not seen any evidence of this unfairness but am open to the discussion and supported a motion that the discussion be referred to a meeting for everyone to discuss that specific issue in depth.
When that motion was passed, essentially delaying any changes until we better understand the issue, Campbell River suggested they will use their weighted vote at the next meeting to change the SRD budget so that they pay less.
The SRD budget needs to be passed at our next board meeting on March 26th, so we’re down to the wire. I hope we can come to a solution that is fair and equitable.
Cortes Currents breaks down the issue here:
https://cortescurrents.ca/possible-srd-breakdown-campbell-river-vows-to-cut-payments/
Provincial Short Term Rental Registry
The province has mandated that all short term rentals and short term rental platforms in the province must register. If you are running a short term rental that advertises publicly, you need to register it before May 1st. There is a registration fee that depends on what type of rental you have. If you register by today there is a 50% discount on the fee and a 25% discount if you register before March 31st.
Details and registration details can be found here:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/short-term-rentals/registry
Please reach out if you have any questions or want to chat about anything in this newsletter or to share your ideas. I'm also into meeting in person over a coffee if you want to get together and chat more in depth about an issue or something you care about.
In service,
Mark
Mark Vonesch
Cortes Island Regional Director
at the Strathcona Regional District
mvoneschsrd.ca
250-202-4422