Galiano's Official Community Plan stipulates one residence to 50 acres in the Forest Zone.
The Land Use Bylaw offers only one option
for higher density residential development
in the Forest Zone.
This is the Heritage Forest Option.
The map at left shows the first Heritage
Forest subdivision to be approved on Galiano.
Residential lots lie at the bottom of a watershed
which is protected by the forest land. Elevation
of the land rises to the lower left.
The Heritage Forest Option offers a small subdivision of fully residential lots of 5 acres in a higher density than the Forest zone otherwise offers. The land not taken up by the subdivision, or its park if one should be part of the plan, is the Heritage Forest. Heritage Forest land is held in perpetuity for protection of Forestry and associated educational values. It will not be sold or subdivided. The intention is that It is held as a community benefit. It will be a particular benefit to the residents of the subdivision as it protects their watershed and the natural setting of their neighbourhood. As the immediate neighbours of the Heritage Forest land they will be the natural, on the spot, watchers and patrolers of the land as they explore and enjoy the natural setting of their neighbourhood. Old logging tracts provide walking trails to vistas of the Georgia Strait from higher elevations. |
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By happy coincidence this east-west strip of Heritage Forest land overlaps with Montague Provincial Park so that there is a protected forest corridor stretching from the Georgia Strait to Trincomali Channel. Such green corridors are recognized as being highly beneficial to wildlife and biodiversity. |
As it happens another Heritage Forest zone
has been approved for the district lot immediatly
to the west of the first. This land strattles
the upper ridge of the island providing watershead
protection to a residential area on the steep
western slopes. The two subdivisions create
one contiguous Heritage Forest straddling
the lot line and the height of the island
at this point. |