Save Francis Bread From Closure
Image by Brette Little
When we founded Saltine last year, it was our mandate that this online zine would be a home for stories of positivity, for sharing perspectives of resiliency, creativity, and innovation. It is not our goal to delve into local politics or wade through muddy waters left in the wake of complicated government issues. But then this happened.
When Francis Bread launched in 2018, Meghan and Peter were initially selling their wood-fired bread at the Saturday Market before converting a gallery building on Peter’s parents property into a space where they could operate as a home-based business. Francis Bread quickly became one of the absolute darlings of this island. Peter and Meghan have created long-term jobs for four talented and lovely individuals, plus themselves. They use local farm fare in their menu items (to the tune of $30,000, which was spent between several local farms last year alone, as indicated in one of the rezoning application documents), and support many other local businesses. They pour their hearts and good energy into this business, and the show of community support has been resounding. And now their livelihood is being threatened with closure by the Islands Trust (IT) for continuing to operate while their rezoning application (which would bring them into so-called compliance) is being considered. This application could take years according to the Islands Trust, possibly even more with delays due to Covid-19.
Here are the broad strokes of the case:
Francis Bread currently exists on a Residential 7 zoned property (R7) and has applied for Commercial zoning
A building permit application in 2020 triggered the response of bylaw enforcement action, as per the IT memorandum referenced at the bottom of this post
Francis Bread may be allowed to continue operating while their rezoning application is in progress if they can demonstrate there is a community need for the business to remain open, but,
The IT report seems to suggest that there is not a community need because there are other lawful and competing bakeries on the island.
The above logic around showing community need is insane. Imagine if we lived in a world where no one started a new business because someone else was already doing it - there would be no innovation, no personality, no quality. The existence of a competing business as an argument against community need is, I think, one of the most disturbing aspects of this entire charade.
If you don’t want to get too deep into Islands Trust zoning issues, here’s what you can do to help:
See this letter from Francis Bread, and please consider writing in to your local trustees before January 19 to tell them how a community need is met by supporting and encouraging the vitality of this beloved Island business.
Laura Patrick: lpatrick@islandstrust.bc.ca | 250-537-6822
Peter Grove: pgrove@islandstrust.bc.ca | 250-537-1117
Peter Luckham: pluckham@islandstrust.bc.ca | 250-210-2553
For those of you who are gluttons for punishing policy, here are a few points about our land use bylaws that might illustrate the frustrating nature of dealing with our local trust. Bylaws often seem to restrict small business growth rather than supporting responsible innovation and creative problem-solving:
Our Land Use Bylaw (LUB) specifically allows that food and drink production is a permitted use for a home-based business (3.13)
The current R7 zoning for the Francis Bread property allows for a home-based business, including food and drink production (9.9.1)
Francis Bread wanted their premises to be food-safe, so they took all necessary measures and had their kitchen certified by Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA)
The Public Health Act (provincial law) Food Premises Regulation stipulates the following, which basically says you can’t use your residential kitchen as official food premises:
1 (1): "food premises" means any place where food intended for public consumption is sold, offered for sale, supplied, handled, prepared, packaged, displayed, served, processed, stored, transported or dispensed;
4 (1): Every person who constructs or makes alterations to food premises must ensure that the food premises are
(d)separate from and without direct access to (i)living quartersSo you can’t use your home kitchen for commercial food production, but the LUB does not permit kitchens in accessory dwellings, either,
Meaning: if you have a food or drink home-based business on Salt Spring, our Land Use Bylaw does not allow you to produce that food and drink in a food-safe certified kitchen
The LUB only has one definition for any type of “kitchen”: a room or area of a room that is equipped, used and intended to be used for residential activities related to the storage, preparation, and heating of food for a single household; and does not include one room or area of a room per lot that is separate from residential use, equipped as a commercial to meet the Food Premises Regulations and the requirements of the Medical Health Officer and is used solely to facilitate the processing of farm products (1.1.1) (emphasis my own)
But wait, does commercial kitchen mean it’s a restaurant and therefore requires some kind of commercial zoning? I don’t think so. “Commercial” as defined in the LUB “means occupied with or engaged in work for the purposes of earning an income,” which could also fall into the definition of a home-based business, so commercial production shouldn’t necessarily require commercial zoning
Is your head spinning yet?
Our Land Use Bylaws need a significant review, one that should include:
Proper definitions for commercial kitchen and restaurant. Our land use bylaw has no legal definition for either, which means it’s up to an individual IT planner to interpret the existing definitions and bylaws however they see fit. Cue the confusion.
I would argue that the current definition of “kitchen” as it reads above is not related to, and should not be applied to, typical commercial food facility operations that fall outside of residential use. Therefore a food production kitchen should be allowed within an accessory building for home-based / commercial business use without necessarily requiring commercial zoning
I would argue that Francis Bread would not fall under the category of restaurant under current circumstances, even if we had a local definition for what a restaurant is in the LUB (which we don’t). Honestly they operate more like a farm stand these days, don’t they? With online ordering and window pick-up, they innovated and found a way to safely service our island in times of stress and uncertainty throughout Covid. Round of applause!
One would think the provincial Public Health Act should supersede local bylaws. The LUB says you can’t have a kitchen in a detached building (3.12.4) or a second kitchen within your home (3.11.3) unless it’s exclusively for the commercial processing farm products. Provincial food safety law says you can’t have a commercial kitchen near living quarters, which under our land use bylaws, basically means no kitchen in your home
What are “farm products” anyway? More from the LUB: “Raw or processed commodities or goods derived from the cultivation and husbandry of land, plants, animals (except pets and exotic animals) and any other similar activity including aquaculture that are grown, reared, raised or produced on a farm” - no mention of these farm products needing to be grown on Salt Spring. I’m pretty sure everything on the Francis Bread menu qualifies, under this definition, as a farm product.
I think the small business owners trying to make heads of this nonsense deserve a quick shout-out for their patience and persistence in navigating an impossible system. Last year I reached out to an IT planner about this very issue, pointing out the above contradictions, and was told, “I am not overly familiar with the requirements of the Public Health Act Food Premises Regulation as it is not within the purview of the Islands Trust, but I should have looked into it. I can understand the frustration of trying to navigate sometimes contradictory regulations and legislation.” No further explanation or clarification provided.
After taking a quick glance at every VIHA-approved food vendor on this Food Facilities list for Salt Spring Island, I think we can assume that many local food producers are operating in kitchens that contravene local bylaws, since the LUB will not permit commercial kitchens in accessory buildings. Such an abundance of non-compliance means something is broken here, and this should be addressed for the benefit of all of these valued businesses.
For more information: The Francis Bread rezoning application (125 Churchill Rd.) can be found on this page, but the main document of interest is the staff report. This document will guide the January 19 meeting coming up next week.
And finally, to repeat the most important bit from above:
See this letter from Francis Bread, and please consider writing in to your local trustees before January 19 to tell them how a community need is met by supporting and encouraging the vitality of this beloved Island business.
Laura Patrick: lpatrick@islandstrust.bc.ca | 250-537-6822
Peter Grove: pgrove@islandstrust.bc.ca | 250-537-1117
Peter Luckham: pluckham@islandstrust.bc.ca | 250-210-2553
Please note that these opinions are my own and this content should not serve as legal advice in any way. This constitutes my own interpretation of the LUB and related materials, and I’ve interpreted these materials to the best of my ability at the time of writing. If you feel I’ve gotten something wrong, please let us know.
