This is Area H. A Place of Beauty.

Our Piece of Paradise

Acknowledgement: CVRD Area H is located on the unceded territory of the Stz’uminus First Nation.

Through this website, your CVRD Regional Director, Ben Maartman, will share news, stories and pictures that may be of interest to the residents of Area H.

This website is intended to be factual and informative, but it is a work in progress. It needs your help – send Area H information (e.g. history, maps, pictures) to ben.maartman@cvrd.bc.ca .

Current Topics

Community Circles

Here’s what it’s all about!

The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) is developing an Official Community Plan for the Electoral Areas (Bylaw 4373). 

This work applies to all nine of the CVRD’s electoral areas and hopes to create a better community for everyone. Your voice matters.

Have Your Say!

A plan like this is really only useful if it reflects the voices of community members. We need your input on the OCP for the Electoral Areas, and one of the ways we are asking for your thoughts and ideas is through Community Circles on OCP Policy Goals and Local Area Plans.

Timeline

Phase 1 Registration – this is where we are now

March – May

Register to join a CVRD led Community Circle or to Facilitate your own Community Circle

Phase 2 Community Circles

April  – May

CVRD led Community Circles

Policy Goals

Local Area Plans

Community led Community Circles

Policy Goals

Local Area Plans

Phase 3 Ideas Book

April – June 

Compilation of ideas

Phase 4 Ideas Fair

June 17th, 2022

Public Ideas Fair held virtually

Phase 5 Ongoing Consultation

Summer – Fall

First Nations Consultation

Regional APC consultation

Other stakeholders’ consultation

Phase 6 Next draft OCP for the Electoral Areas (Bylaw 4373 OCP)

Fall 2022

BC Property Assessment

Property owners in BC received their assessments in January 2022. In general there have been significant increases across the province and across the CVRD. Overall, the average 2022 assessment increase for the CVRD was 32.17%. This varies from as low of 16.48% in Area F to a high of 43.48% in Town of Lake Cowichan. The increase for Area H is 17.69%.

A recent comment I received is an astute observation of the current situation. “The increase in assessed property values is something of a mirage, widely thought to be over-inflated, but the tax increases will not be a mirage.” So how will your specific assessment impact the amount of tax you will pay.

Generally, if your property value increases more than other properties, similar to yours, then what you pay in taxes will higher simply due to the fact of having higher property taxes. The converse is true as well. If you believe your assessment is not correct then you can file a Notice of Complaint with the BC Assessment Authority. The deadline is January 31, 2022.

So how do you determine if how your property compares to other? The first thing is to know the basic statistic for your Area. The average increase in residential property tax in Area H is 23.90%. The next is to go to the BC Assessment Authority website and make the comparison with similar properties.

CVRD Active Transportation Plan

The Cowichan Valley Regional District has engaged project consultants Bunt & Associates Engineering and Uplift Engagement Communications to develop a Regional Active Transportation Plan to promote and expand accessible, safe, convenient, and enjoyable transportation options for people of all abilities, as an alternative to the private automobile. The project will explore opportunities to improve the CVRD’s active transportation walking and rolling networks.

Regional Recreation:

Recreation centres across the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) are undertaking facility usage studies to assist in the creation of a new equitable funding model for nine significant facilities in the Cowichan region. 

Taxpayer funding of the many significant recreation facilities in the region has been a challenge for decades, and the CVRD Board of Directors has directed that a more equitable model go to referendum during the local government elections in October 2022. 

The nine significant recreation centres being studied include those operated by the CVRD, Municipality of North Cowichan, Town of Ladysmith, and the Chesterfield Sports Society including: 

• Cowichan Aquatic Centre 
• Cowichan Community Centre 
• Cowichan Lake Sports Arena 
• Cowichan Performing Arts Centre 
• Cowichan Sportsplex 
• Ladysmith Frank Jameson Community Centre 
• Fuller Lake Arena 
• Kerry Park Recreation Centre 
• Shawnigan Lake Community Centre 

Usage of each facility is determined by an analysis of addresses of program registrations, membership uses, facility bookings, and drop-in uses. The facility use analysis is ongoing until March 2022, and will be used in conjunction with a similar study that took place in 2017. The intent will be to average the two data sets to provide reliable results capturing the people using these identified facilities. 

When the public drop-in at these recreation facilities between now and March 2022, they may be asked for their street address to be used for this purpose. The results of the facility use analysis will be communicated to the public in the late spring of 2022. 

Volunteer Opportunities

Area H Advisory Planning Commission – 1 position

Contact ben.maartman@cvrd.bc.ca