If you don’t like bottled water, you can give the SLRD a high-five, because bottling water in the area will be harder now that amendments to the Official Community Plan of Electoral Area D have been approved.
Electoral Area D Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 1135-2013, Amendment Bylaw No. 1524-2017 was given third reading and adopted on Feb. 28.
Electoral Area D refers to the unincorporated rural areas surrounding the District of Squamish. Britannia Beach, Porteau Cove, Furry Creek and Upper Squamish Valley all fall within this region.
A slew of changes were put in place as a result of the amendment.
Water bottling and water bottling facilities are now excluded in the definition of ‘industrial use,’ which would ensure those activities would require a rezoning application, as opposed to being allowed by default.
Language in the amendments addresses urban agriculture — specifically, the keeping of hens and bees outside the Agriculture Land Reserve.
For instance, six hens will be allowed on each parcel of land, but owners won’t be allowed to sell manure or meat from the hens.
Two beehives will be permitted on each parcel of land spanning 929 square metres.
The new changes will also permit 10 gatherings of up to 150 people per year on farms. This would include weddings, music festivals and other celebrations.
Amendments to gross floor calculations give space exemptions for certain-sized basements and garages so that they won’t be counted against the floor area limit of a house.
Exemptions will be given for basements that are 90 square metres or less, and for garages that are 60 square metres or under.
There are a number of other changes included in the bylaw, which are too many to list. Details can be found at slrd.bc.ca.
The approval of the bylaw amendments was made after a public hearing on the matter on Feb. 19.
Those gathered were almost entirely silent when the floor was opened for comment.
As a result, no further revisions were made to the bylaw before it was approved.
