Are you concerned about too much development in West Bamfield

Bamfield's Future
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West Bamfield has several large properties (e.g. 15 acres) that could be subdivided into .6 acre lots if they were approved for rezoning / subdivision. We need to ensure the upcoming review of the Bamfield OCP (Official Community Plan) lays out our collective vision for the future.

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Thanks so much for your valuable contribution James

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As someone who is interested in owning a full-time residence in W. Bamfield, it’s a complicated issue. Rezoning of existing land could provide an affordable opportunity to achieve this goal, but it comes with risk to the charm and solitude of living in W. Bamfield. I think we are already pushing our limits for the number of motorized vehicles in W. Bamfield, construction related noise pollution seems is becoming more frequent, and I have concerns about the strain of development on service infrastructure (mainly water and waste). As far as I know, there are no by laws in place that prevent proposed subdivisions from becoming investment or tourism properties and certainly no guarantees that such subdivisions would be affordable to year-round residents. So yes, I’m concerned. I think the community should find a way to discuss and agree on what our shared values are around development, or we risk losing the people and environment which make this place so special.

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Yes, I think need to find the right balance between conserving the special nature of West Bamfield and managing growth. Josie Osbourne gave us some good advice a few years ago - …plan for the future community you want rather that have it dictated by random ad hoc decisions.

We have a few mechanisms to achieve this:

  1. Bamfield OCP (Official Community Plan) which sets out the community’s vision for the future. The OCP is up for review very soon and be an opportunity for us to lay out some specific policies to manage growth. One idea is to map out ‘density zones’ where we define the minimum property sizes for specific areas if town. This would involve review the current residential zoning rules and possibly drafting some new zoning definitions.

  2. On a tactical level, the Bamfield APC committee (comprised of residents) that reviews rezoning and subdivision requests. The ACRD generally follows the recommendations of the our local APC when considering new applications.

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