By LAURA PATRICK
Salt Spring Islands Trust trustee
I want to take a moment to speak directly to you, neighbour to neighbour, about the Local Trust Committee’s project to update the Salt Spring Island Official Community Plan (OCP) and Land Use Bylaws (LUB).
It has been 17 years since our community last updated the OCP, and nearly 27 years since the first plan was created — in both cases with limited input from First Nations. That original plan reflected who we were then — our values, our population and our understanding of the future. But time has moved on. Our island has changed, and so have the challenges we face.
I’ve heard many opinions about this process and about what motivates it. Some are based on fact, others on misunderstanding, and some stem from a fear of change. I understand that fear. I live here too. I shop at the same stores, get my hair cut locally and, like many of you, I no longer have a family doctor. I walk the same forest and shoreline trails and talk with neighbours about the same concerns. I see what you see — trailers tucked behind grocery stores, boats that serve as homes, tents in the woods and cars parked quietly at the ends of roads where people sleep because there’s nowhere else to go.
As a community, we have always envisioned an island where teachers, tradespeople, healthcare workers, young families and elders — the people who give this place its heart and soul — can all belong. We also highly value the island’s extraordinary beauty, environmental significance and rare biological diversity. Are we living up to these values?
My interest in expanding equitable housing options has been described in all sorts of ways — some say I want to pave the island, others that I want to freeze all development. Neither is true. What I want — and what I believe most of us want — is balance: to protect the natural environment and character of this place while ensuring the people who make up our community can continue to live here.
Change is always unsettling, especially when it touches the land and lifestyle that mean so much to us. But ignoring it won’t make it disappear. Our best path forward is through open, honest and compassionate dialogue — by listening as much as we speak, and by recognizing that everyone’s concerns come from a shared love for this island.
An OCP and LUB are not about paving paradise. The OCP guides the decisions that bring our shared vision and values to life in a way that upholds the Islands Trust’s “preserve and protect” mandate. The LUBs set out how land, buildings and other structures may be used — and must remain consistent with the OCP.
These documents belong to all of us. They’re not just government paperwork — they reflect our shared values, our hopes and our commitment to one another. If we approach this process with care and respect, we can create something that honours our past, serves our present, and better prepares us for the future.
The Local Trust Committee has identified community engagement and participation as fundamental to the OCP-LUB update project. We’ve developed a planning process that aims to be equitable and to include a broad spectrum of voices. We’ve also committed to meaningful and respectful engagement with the many First Nations with treaty and territorial interests on Salt Spring Island, as well as with Indigenous residents of the island.
At our Nov. 6 meeting, we will evaluate the engagement that has taken place so far and review our next steps. This process has always been designed to unfold in multiple phases, each of which includes opportunities for community input. As we move forward, I encourage everyone to take part — attend meetings, read the drafts when they’re available and — most importantly — talk to one another.
Let’s share ideas, ask questions, and keep the conversation respectful. Together, we can help ensure the policies and regulations we adopt truly support the housing and healthy ecosystems our island needs to thrive.
Find out more about Salt Spring’s review of our OCP and LUB: islandstrust.bc.ca/island-planning/salt-spring/projects/salt-spring-official-community-plan-review/
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