Mayne Island Garbage Services announced on Oct. 30 in a brief Facebook post that they will cease operations on Jan. 1, 2020.
The company had earlier alluded to an ongoing dispute with Islands Trust, the provincially enacted body which oversees conservation and preservation for islands in the southern Georgia Strait and Howe Sound.
In a Facebook post from Oct. 3, Mayne Island Garbage Services wrote that “Recently the Islands Trust has reinitiated efforts to close down our service. In our mind the reasoning is not valid, certainly happy to discuss with anyone but it’s complicated and takes time to fully flush out.”
In a subsequent Facebook post from Oct. 28, Mayne Island Garbage Services wrote that “Before we started operations we sought clarification from the Planner and Trustees as to the requirements of the Trust and were told our service complied with the Land Use Bylaws – we believe nothing has changed and we are working within the Bylaws.”
Dan Rogers, the Chair of Mayne Island’s local trust committee, said that the announcement that Mayne Island Garbage Services would be shutting down was “as much of a surprise to me as anybody.”
Rogers said that Islands Trust received multiple complaints from Mayne Island residents with regards to how Mayne Island Garbage Services has been operating on a piece of property that is zoned as residential.
“When there’s valid complaints filed under a land use bylaw, you have to respond,” Rogers said. However, Rogers stressed that Islands Trust has not been pursuing any kind of stop-work order or any other legal route that would cause Mayne Island Garbage Services to cease operations.
“We don’t license or direct operations of businesses on Mayne Island – we’re a land use regulation organization,” Rogers said. “Our mandate is to always try to find a way to work to find a solution with the landowner.”
Rogers said that at a meeting on Oct. 28, Islands Trust passed a motion seeking the assistance of the improvement district in resolving the conflict, but no further action has been taken.
Representatives for Mayne Island Garbage Services reached by phone declined to comment.
Tim Ford
