The 59-year-old announced on Sunday he would resign from the board following last month's conviction for assaulting a woman after returning home from the pub.
Dowling was initially steadfast in remaining on the board despite the conviction, but folded after calls for him to step down from Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull and others.
His initial stance was supported by a majority of his fellow board members, who voted down a motion of no confidence at a meeting last week.
Board chairman Barry Williams provided a brief statement yesterday.
``As you are aware, Bevan has resigned from his position on the Strath Taieri Community Board. His resignation triggers a by-election and this process will now take its course,'' it said.
Nothing within local governance law precluded Dowling from standing for the seat from which he has resigned.
Dunedin City Council strategy and governance general manager Sandy Graham said Dowling's resignation would trigger an 89-day timeframe in which to hold the election.
``With formal notification this week, the election date would be no later than the 13th of December,'' she said.
The election would be by postal ballot, meaning voting would be open for weeks in advance of the deadline.
How quickly the new member was appointed to the board would depend on how close the results were and if the meeting schedule was altered.
``They come into office when they are sworn in and at this stage the next planned board meeting following the election is February,'' Ms Graham said.
It was too early to speculate on how much the by-election would cost.
Membership of the board was open to anyone who was nominated by two electors.
