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In the fall, community members on Gabriola Island rallied behind a group of residents who felt their long-standing cob homes were at risk after the Regional District of Nanaimo put notices on them for being non-compliant with the B.C. Building Code.

The Gabriola Sounder has done a wonderful job of covering that story and you can read more of its reporting on it here.

When we read about the story at The Discourse, it reminded us of the difficulties that some residents had with the Regional District of Nanaimo with permitting tiny homes on their properties in 2024.

We thought it would be useful to write a story that looked at the issue of building cob homes and some of the frequently asked questions that the Regional District of Nanaimo gets about them and the building code. You can read that story below.

Thank you for reading,

Mick Sweetman

Thinking about building a cob home in the Nanaimo area?

FAQ about cob homes in the Regional District of Nanaimo.

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“Keeps people informed of council stuff. Events in a nutshell. Thank you so much!”

— From our newsletter survey.

Council Corner

On Monday, Nanaimo city council held a special council meeting to address consent items before the budget is presented to council on Dec. 15. 

The consent items that passed were to increase the budget for the Loudon Park Development Project by $5.5 million to pay for a new community amenity building, dock and circulation road.

Coun. Tyler Brown proposed that over a million dollars earmarked to add lighting on the E&N Trail between Northfield Road and Rock City Road be reallocated to other pedestrian and active transportation projects. 

Brown argued that the money would be better spent on pedestrian safety as cyclists who are riding on the trail in the evening “have the appropriate gear and lights on their bike.”

He said that spending the money on pedestrian safety instead would serve more people. The motion carried 5-4 with councillors Sheryl Armstrong, Hilary Eastmure, Ian Thorpe and Janice Perrino opposed. 

Thorpe moved to allocate $1.3 million for non-park improvements in 2028, with $800,000 coming from the strategic infrastructure reserve fund and $500,000 from the general capital reserve.

City staff were also directed to proceed with a detailed design and construction plan that would include landscaping, a picnic shelter, a children’s playground, interpretive signage and other elements. 

The motion passed 8-1 with Coun. Ben Geselbracht opposed. 

Thorpe moved that the Luminous Paths Festival receive funding for 2027 on a biennial basis with $86,000 in base funding for it. The motion was carried unanimously.

On the Island

🌊  A contentious council decision to amend the North Cowichan Official Community Plan could set back housing developments and cost future tax payers, municipal staff say. Cowichan Valley Reporter Eric Richards has the full story.

In other news

👉 Nanaimo RCMP have released that 65-year-old Cherry Shelley, who had been reported as missing since Nov. 14, is dead after Mounties verified that the remains found in a burned vehicle in a wooded area on College Drive were hers. A homicide investigation is being led by the RCMP serious crimes unit, who are asking people in the College Drive area to check their dashcam and security camera footage from 11 p.m. on Nov. 13 to 3 a.m. on Nov. 14. Police say the delay in reporting Shelley’s identity to the public was due to difficulty in positively identifying her remains and contacting her family. Nanaimo News Now has the story.

👉 The Regional District of Nanaimo is looking at making it easier to move homes from one lot to another. During an electoral area services committee meeting on Dec. 4, Vanessa Craig gave notice of a motion for staff to review fees and policies for “moved on homes” in the regional district. The Nanaimo News Bulletin has the story.

👉 A high school student in Nanaimo has been training principals in Nanaimo-Ladysmith Public Schools how to reverse overdoses with Naloxone. Alexa Meekison, a Grade 12 student at Learning Alternatives, started training teachers and students at her school two years ago and trained district principals a few weeks ago as part of a health promotion initiative with Island Health. The Gabriola Sounder has the story.

👉 Rent in Nanaimo increased by 4.3 per cent for the average one-bedroom apartment and six per cent for a two bedroom apartment in the city according to Rentals.ca. The average rental price for an apartment in the city is now $2,113 a month. Chek News has the story.

👉 An illuminating new series of projected art pieces in Nanaimo’s downtown is shining a spotlight on the revamped Commercial Street. Artist Amy Pye created 10 circular artworks that are projected onto downtown sidewalks in the evening. Nanaimo News Now has the story.

In your words

Re: Nanaimo city council votes down proposed drug policy letter

Mayor Krog recently stated in a city hall debate that an Overdose Prevention Site “does save lives, but saving those lives for what purpose?” 

This veers into the same dehumanizing logic that has historically fuelled eugenic thinking, and is an ethically abhorrent stance for any elected official. Treatment, housing and mental-health supports are essential, but they cannot help people who are already dead. 

Blaming life-saving services creates a false dichotomy and diverts attention from the real issue: governments’ ongoing failure to invest in a full continuum of evidence-based care grounded in dignity, autonomy and the determinants of health. 

I invite our mayor to sit with the loved ones of toxic-drug crisis victims. Perhaps then he will recognize that all lives are worthy of care and compassion.

-Dr. Jessica Wilder, local family and addictions medicine physician and co-founder of Doctors for Safer Drug Policy

Re: Nanaimo city council votes down proposed drug policy letter

What an ass. What an appalling and ghoulish thing to say. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was a conservative and not a former NDP MLA. 

-Jules Sherred responding on Bluesky to a quote by Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog in Nanaimo city council votes down proposed drug policy letter.

Have something to say about our stories? Send us a short email for consideration in our next newsletter to nanaimo@thediscourse.ca. Please limit your letters to a maximum of 100 words as they may be edited for length and style. 

Be part of it!

Nanaimo firefighters make snow at the Downtown Nanaimo Winterfest on Thursday, Dec. 4. Photo by Mick Sweetman / The Discourse. 

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