The recently proposed official community plan and Zoning Bylaw from the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine has led to a lot of confusion and frustration among Electoral Area C residents due to the new regulation proposing things like limits on livestock and the prohibiting of roosters.
Former director for the Regional District, Douglas McLeod, explained what he was told about the changes at an earlier meeting and gave his own thoughts on what he thinks should happen with the process surrounding these changes;
“When I went to the original meeting with regard to the issue at hand with the Area C change, I asked the individual that was conducting the meeting, who from Area C asked for this and he didn’t answer. So I pressed and said, why is this happening? And he said we decided that we had to do this, and we presented it to the board and the board unanimously approved it. I expect that if the final bylaw is presented to the board, they’ll just approve it. I don’t agree with that because the people who are affected by it haven’t really had a say. It should go to referendum, the election’s coming, it’s not a big deal, put it in as a referendum to let the people of Area C have a say. ”
McLeod also believes that other local Electoral Areas should have their own bylaws to properly accommodate their own unique traits as opposed to having municipal bylaws applying to rural areas.
McLeod then disclosed his thoughts Electoral Area C’s current Director Bruce Bidgood;
“My opinion is that he thinks he’s wiser than the average citizen and that he knows what’s best for us. I don’t agree.”
Using his own experiences, he said that his own handling of this situation would start with him questioning where the demand for these changes came from and instead suggest something like spending money on a more pressing need for the area.
As far as the future of those changes goes, The Regional District says there will be more public engagement before the next draft is handed to the Board of Directors, although it likely won’t happen until after the election that takes place later this year.