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Festivals in the Upper Squamish Valley have drawn frustration from some residents, with concerns about noise and other issues reaching the table at Monday’s (June 29) regular meeting of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) board.
Electoral Area D Director John Turner put a letter on the agenda from one Upper Squamish resident on June 20 who said he heard loud music throughout a night, and another from June 19 that questioned the permitting process for music festivals and the noise, traffic, litter, trespassing and other issues that could negatively impact local residents.
“Most residents of this valley move here for the peace and quiet. I urge you to press for more zoning so that these activities can be controlled,” the first Upper Squamish resident wrote to Turner, addressing the noise issue and the understanding there are plans for more events this summer.
The June 19 letter, which Turner identified in a fax as having been sent to him by another Upper Squamish resident, states that festivals held last summer “were very loud and not one, zero, of these 48-hour, non-stop, bass-pumping music festivals is supported by valley residents.”
That letter pointed out the websites for three summer events – the Entheos Conference and Festival, the Uprising Media Festival and the Bass Coast Project – that said the festivals would be happening in the Squamish Valley. It also questioned the requirements for and public consultation involved in the special event permit process.
“Noise is kind of a main issue that’s been happening in the Upper Squamish [Valley],” Turner told the board on Monday, asking what could be done in the area.
SLRD Chief Administrative Officer Paul Edgington said there is no zoning bylaw in place, as residents have resisted that in the past, so the special events permit is the main tool for addressing such issues. The permit is necessary for events with more than 500 attendees, and requires organizers to have detailed plans and approvals from authorities such as police, health and fire agencies.
He suggested the board could consider reducing the threshold for the permit to an amount of attendees fewer than 500, or staff could investigate the possibility of a noise bylaw.
“We will look at this because it is a problem,” Edgington said.
Squamish Mayor Greg Gardner said he felt the special event permit process works well, and he favoured the suggestion to reduce the threshold, though exceptions might need to be made for certain kinds of events.
“We would have more control over these types of events,” he said.
Edgington said the organizers of the Bass Coast Project have been working closely with the SLRD and authorities such as the RCMP and Vancouver Coastal Health to secure the approvals for an event with about 1,500 people. He told The Chief after the board meeting that the Bass Coast organizers have also consulted with some neighbours.
They are doing as good a job as possible “for an event of their size and for the first time,” he told the board.
Edgington said the special event permit process doesn’t require public consultation, but the SLRD does encourage it.
Turner said the small size and limited transportation of the Upper Squamish community means big crowds have an impact.
In the meeting, several directors looked at the website for the Uprising event, which was scheduled to be held this weekend (July 3 to 5) in the Squamish Valley, according to the site.
Edgington told the board that while the Bass Coast event is permitted, the others are not, as far as he knew, and the board could authorize actions such as an injunction against the unpermitted events, if desired.
Last summer, the SLRD sought and won an injunction prohibiting the So Hood Summer Jam ’08, which was scheduled for the same weekend as the Pemberton Festival but did not have the required permit, according to SLRD officials.
Edgington told The Chief that the Uprising festival looked like a “fairly well advertised” event with attendance likely over 500.
Edgington said the board voted to ask SLRD staff to contact organizers of the Uprising event and advise them of the SLRD’s special event permit requirements, and to authorize the CAO to commence injunctive action if compliance didn’t follow. Edgington told The Chief on Tuesday (June 30) that efforts were being made to contact the organizers, and he had made some investigations.
On Wednesday (July 1), a post on the Facebook page for the Uprising festival said the site had been changed to an organic farm around Pemberton.
