Islanders are by our nature independent, which puts us at odds with one-size-fits-all solutions to just about anything.
It has, expectedly, been quite a challenge for the Islands Trust over the past term as reasonable-minded staff and trustees attempted a “harmonization” of policies that one might hope could be the same from one island to the next.
But the promised efficiency — that staff familiar with procedures on one island could pull duty on any of them — was seemingly no match for islanders’ sense of their own uniqueness; from meeting procedures to where to post up notices, it turned out most had their own preferences, thank you very much.
So with the benefit of experience, and with arguably higher stakes, on Salt Spring Island we watched Trust Council’s work on a template bylaw compliance and enforcement policy with tempered expectations. As it turned out, if we were hoping for a made-on-Salt-Spring solution, we couldn’t have asked for more.
When it was introduced at Trust Council, we noted it already felt nearer than expected to Salt Spring’s needs — perhaps because we lead the pack within our island confederation when it comes to enforcement files. Now further localized, Salt Spring’s bylaw compliance and enforcement policy reflects several realities felt most acutely here, not least of which is the balancing act between managing the need for a wide range of housing choices and mitigating the quality and safety problems inevitably associated with the affordable end of a rising-cost market.
And while Salt Springers may not approve of every aspect of the new policy, important work has been done to make the process more transparent and more easily understood. When islanders engage with this system there are steps to be followed, and the boundaries of authority are made clear.
Wholly unique is our island’s new alternative, multi-jurisdictional “mediate and mitigate” enforcement process for non-permitted living situations, something of a formless form centred on compassion for the precariously-housed.
That’s going to take time to develop, and there are no road maps — but the mindfulness is unmistakably Salt Spring, and we look forward to seeing it in action.