A local company has once again been denied after trying to convince the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District to reconsider an application to build a camp for temporary workers on the south end of Britannia Beach.
In a presentation to the regional district board last week, LandSea Camp Services said that additional accommodations will likely be needed because a host of developments in the Squamish area will likely be attracting more workers.
The company said a temporary work camp could house workers from Bethel Lands, Macdonald Developments, Bosa Properties, Newport Beach, Woodfibre, Fortis BC, BC Hydro, Taicheng South Britannia, Polygon, Waterfront Landing and Cheekye Fan.
LandSea has previously told The Chief the camps were not intended to house temporary foreign workers.
The regional district decided to once again reject the company’s proposal.
“The board is not interested in a temporary use permit for a work camp on those lands separate and apart from an actual project,” said Jack Crompton, chair of the regional district board.
Slides attached to the meeting agenda showed that LandSea Camp Services proposed three ways to address the potential need to house additional workers.
Included in the proposal was a 100-to-300-person temporary workforce lodge and RV site in Britannia Beach and a 200-to-300-person temporary lodge in the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation lands.
The third proposal was 50 to 100 units of affordable housing in Squamish.
“All three concepts need to [be] moving forward simultaneously,” the presentation reads.
Crompton said the SLRD would only be interested in finding a permanent solution with respect to the Britannia Beach land.
“We’re focused on permanent and having well-planned communities and using land that’s designed to provide permanent affordable and market housing,” Crompton said.
He added that the regional district could not provide comment on the proposals for Squamish, as that would be a matter for the municipality to consider.
The District of Squamish says it has not received any applications from LandSea that match the proposals described in the presentation.
LandSea had tried applying for a work camp permit last month for the south end of Britannia Beach, but it was turned down by the regional district board for the same reason.
It appears as if the company will be trying to continue fostering dialogue with the regional district in the future.
“LandSea very much appreciates the board taking the time to reconsider the application and we look forward to continued discussions,” reads an email from Brayden Veilleux, who handles business development at LandSea.
Previously, the company put forth its work camp permit proposal on behalf of Taicheng Development Corp., which owns land in the south end of Britannia Beach.
LandSea, however, said the camp would be for workers of any company on any project in the Squamish area, not just for Taicheng.
A representative for Taicheng told The Chief in an email exchange that it wouldn’t be able to comment on the matter before press time.
