A bylaw enacted last year to control special events in the regional district is causing grief for the Courtenay and District Fish and Game Protective Association.
The club has asked for an exemption from the bylaw because of the nature of its private property and large membership.
The bylaw seeks to control any outdoor gathering where over 400 people might attend. It requires adequate sanitation, access plans, an emergency plan, a security plan, a written undertaking and a security deposit.
A security deposit of $5,000 is required for special events up to 1,000 people, which rises to $10,000 for events expected to draw over 1,000.
The Fish and Game club, a non-profit in its 80th year of operation, maintains that the security deposit requirement could negatively affect their finances.
Fish and Game president Terry Kerton wrote in a March letter to the regional district that the security deposit requirement is “troubling”.
That’s because with a large membership of 2,700 people, and numerous activities such as camping, fishing, shooting and archery competitions, they could exceed the 400 people limit in 24 hours quite frequently.
The one major “public” event the club puts on, is the annual Outdoor Show.
“We have operated activities such as the Outdoor Show at this facility for over 25 years, without ever having an incident or any damage,” wrote Kerton. “We are fully covered by $5 million insurance, including events such as the Outdoor Show.
“We would have no problem including the CVRD as co-insured for such an activity, but find the $5,000 security deposit for an event on our own land unreasonable. The four-month holding period would overlap our fiscal year, causing further accounting problems for us.”
The matter came up at last week’s Electoral Area Services Committee at the regional district.
Directors decided to send the bylaw in question back for some “tweaking.”
“It’s a bit more complicated than I expected,” said Area A director Bruce Jolliffe. “The bylaw was created because we ended up with a set of conditions that provided us with difficulties. People were leasing their properties to some not-as-well-managed events as we’d like.”
Area B director Rod Nichol asked if there was anything in the bylaw “that defines … the normal operation of the club? Or if it’s outside normal operation? Or could it be exempt.”
Alana Mullaly, manager of planning services, told the committee that that is “a piece we struggled with, that’s not currently in the bylaw … Maybe we can tweak the bylaw. I think we want to keep sight of risk … that we know is out there. These are outdoor events.”
Jolliffe suggested the matter be referred back to staff “to come up with language that better articulates the original intent of the bylaw.”
Staff will come back with some bylaw tweaks at the next electoral area committee meeting in June.