Area residents refer to “Building Guidelines”, “Covenants” and “By-Laws”. What is the difference between these items and do we call the local police to handle any of these?

BUILDING/ARCHITECTURAL GUIDELINES: These are derived from the Building Scheme registered on title of your lot. The developer registered these prior to commencing development in each phase. The Building or Architectural Guidelines are a more “user friendly” version of the Building Scheme and include lists of approved building materials, overall home design guidelines, setbacks and sketches, etc. These are used by the lot owner and their builder to plan the residence to conform to the Building Scheme. The overseeing agent is the developer (currently Fairwinds Corporation).

COVENANTS: The two original owners of Fairwinds and their successors have entered into various covenants with one another for the benefit of the Fairwinds. These covenants detail the terms and conditions under which Fairwinds will be developed and place restrictions on certain activities or installations by owners (fences, roofing, clotheslines and so forth). These are registered on the title of all lots in Fairwinds as “Restrictive Covenants”. They run with the land and are therefore transferred to each successive owner of the lots and homes. They contain many of the same restrictions as are listed in the registered Building Schemes. The Restrictive Covenants that many residents refer to are these documents. While the terms “Building Scheme” and “Restrictive Covenants” are used by residents interchangeably they are in fact separate documents and separate charges on the lands. However, both the Building Scheme and the Restrictive Covenants have the same effect of placing restrictions on the owners.

BY-LAWS: These are put in place by the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN). The bylaws that are enacted by the RDN must comply with the Local Government Act and/or the Community Charter, as the case may be. As we are a rural area, our bylaws are largely governed by the Local Government Act. The RDN has some bylaws that are helpful for Electoral Area “E” but may not necessarily be applicable to Fairwinds Restrictive Covenants or Building Scheme. Some existing bylaws cover noise, unsightly premises, hazardous situations/health & safety, etc. These infractions may be handled by the Bylaw Enforcement Officer of the RDN.

Fairwinds Community Association

Area residents refer to “Building Guidelines”, “Covenants” and “By-Laws”. What is the difference between these items and do we call the local police to handle any of these?