Council is considering a motion to rescind a Section 219 cov…

Council is considering a motion to rescind a Section 219 covenant that currently restricts commercial assembly use on the Oak & Vine Estate, a vineyard and lavender farm on Lakes Road in North Cowichan. The property has operated as a wedding venue for six years under two consecutive temporary use permits. Owners Randy Westlake and Masika Allan have also submitted a zoning amendment application that would allow the venue permanently. The covenant removal, if approved, clears one of the legal barriers ahead of that rezoning decision. The action sits within a broader pattern of agri-tourism and rural commercial applications in the Cowichan Valley as municipalities respond to demand for event spaces on agricultural land. North Cowichan’s handling of the covenant rescission — whether treated as a housekeeping step or as a substantive policy decision — will indicate council’s posture toward similar requests. The zoning amendment is the more consequential item, but the covenant vote establishes the procedural path and may signal council sentiment. A change.org petition supporting permanent use and local media coverage suggest community backing, which typically weighs on council decisions for small-scale operators. The property’s existing event barn and site improvements place it in a category where a zoning change, if granted, would convert a conditional temporary use into as-of-right commercial assembly. That shift would change the property’s valuation and could invite similar conversion applications from other farm-based venues or event operators on Lakes Road and beyond. Without the covenant, the operating constraints are purely zoning-based. If council rescinds the covenant and the rezoning later advances, construction or renovation of ancillary structures could follow as part of compliance with any conditions imposed at that stage.

Council is considering a motion to rescind a Section 219 covenant that currently restricts commercial assembly use on…