Association of the Savary Island Committee: Update May 2010

by Janine Reimer

On May 8, officially the first meeting of the society, sadly we were missing SIC member Susan Poulos, who had passed away on April 18. We regret that Susan had not been able to witness the end result of her invaluable contribution to the formation of the society. Susan sat on the Governance Committee that wrote the society's Bylaws, bringing her experience from other societies to which she had belonged. Susan had also been Chair of the Parking Subcommittee, having worked to alleviate the parking congestion on island.

This was the second term that Susan had been on the Savary Island Committee. We are thankful for her service to the community.

Have you signed up? At the time of writing this (May 14), the society ASIC was just 36 days old and already had 253 members. We are encouraged by the enthusiasm from the community, and hope to eventually sign on all Savary property owners and their spouses, so as to have an all-inclusive and persuasive voice when liaising with the Regional District and other government agencies. The membership form can be downloaded from savaryislandcommittee.ca or you can simply give your contact information to Sharon Feduniak via email or tel 604-414-6874, or Janine Reimer via email or tel 604-414-0770, or write to SIC at box 222, Lund, V0N 2G0. There is no membership fee.

OCP Hearing. By the time you read this, the May 23 Public Hearing will probably have already happened. The subject of the Hearing is the Savary OCP amendment "Section 9," which can be downloaded from This new legislation will affect development of DL1375, the area co-owned by the Nature Trust and the Sahlin family, and will require that any development in the area be preceded by a Development Permit. The amendment is also notable in that it alters our OCP from previously having been entirely of an advisory nature to now being partially regulatory; that is, enforceable by law.

Don Turner, PRRD Regional Planner, had asked ASIC to comment on the bylaw. Bud Graham formally responded to the PPRD that ASIC does not oppose the amendment, provided it affects DL1375 only and is not a stepping stone for development permit regulations elsewhere on Savary. We were concerned, as was Don Turner himself in an April 13 memo to the PRRD Planning Committee, that “based on past history, it is unlikely that Island wide development permit provisions would be acceptable to the majority of islanders at this time."

Nature Trust / Sahlin court case perspectives. Documents pertaining to the court case may be viewed at savaryislandcommittee.ca, including the Judge's ruling of March 12 (which might be appealed), a Savary Island News article by SILT Executive Director Liz Webster, and a letter to ASIC from the Sahlin family regarding their history on Savary.

Fines for Uninsured Vehicles. The RCMP has not yet started ticketing uninsured vehicles, but has plans to do so. The fine is $598. We anticipate that owners will move their uninsured vehicles to their respective properties to avoid the fine, thereby helping ASIC's objective of maximizing the number of available parking spaces for legitimate vehicles in the vicinity of the wharf.

Parking Up-the-Hill. The upper lot has undergone additional clearing, so now accommodates more vehicles for day parking and extended parking. Please make use of this lot when you'll be off-island for a while, so that short-term parkers may find a convenient spot near the wharf.

New MoT representative. Savary and the rest of the Regional District have a new Ministry of Transportation representative, Clint Monson, who replaces Tyler Lambert. He has suggested that the Steering Committee (ASIC, MoT, and PRRD) meet quarterly. One of Mr. Monson's first projects is the upgrade to Townley Walk currently underway, involving resurfacing, sloping, ditching, and replanting Telus lines.

You can represent your area of the island. It's a two-year commitment, but becoming an ASIC Director could be of great benefit to you, your neighbours, and the rest of the island. ASIC has nine directors, with three from each of the three island areas (East, Mid, West). Some of the current directors will run again in the November election, while others have chosen to retire, so we are now scouting new individuals who would like to be instrumental in Savary's future. For more information, please contact

Annual General Meeting / Open House. The first Annual General Meeting is scheduled for 1pm Wednesday August 4 at Savary's main Fire Hall. The meeting is open to the whole community, but we'll also be signing up members at the door, so please come a bit early. The first hour of the meeting will review projects underway since the August 2009 Open House and will outline new objectives, and the second hour will be a question/answer period.

June Metal Drive. Please contact to get on the list for the scrap metal drive. It may be downscaled due to the lack of interest, and will therefore be only for those that sign up. This will be a one-day-only event near the end of June.

Minutes of the May meeting will be adopted at the June meeting, after which they'll be posted in SIC's bulletin board at the wharf, and on the SIC website:

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