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Cleveland Ave. plans paused by Squamish council

More consultation on two-storey cap
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They are taking a step back to do more consultation. 

District of Squamish council decided to press pause on plans to restrict the height of developments on downtown’s Cleveland Avenue to two storeys.

At a council meeting Tuesday evening, Mayor Patricia Heintzman put forward a motion to rescind second reading of a zoning bylaw amendment that was passed in late February that, if ultimately passed, would cap building heights on Cleveland to two storeys of commercial.

“The mayor has prerogative to bring something back within 30 days,” Heintzman explained in putting forth her motion to rescind. 

“I think this is a big change for Cleveland… I want to make sure the public is given the opportunity to comment, and to understand and to provide feedback – to be able to influence how this may look in the future.” 

The mayor’s motion also cancelled the public hearing on the zoning amendment scheduled for March 14. Further stakeholder and public consultation will now take place, Heintzman said. 

“Our intention is to make Cleveland spectacular 70 to 100 years down the road. We want to figure out how to get there and the last thing we want to do is stymie the invigoration of that corridor.”  

Heintzman said there seemed to be some public confusion over the District and council’s intention in pursuing the amendment. 

When the bylaw amendment was originally proposed on Feb. 23, the rationale given by District staff, and supported by most of council, was that it temporarily prevented higher developments from coming in along the strip while the Official Community Plan is being updated and a full vision for the downtown’s main street is being realized.

In expressing his support for rescinding second reading, Coun. Ted Prior said he was glad that he and others on council had received a lot of feedback from the community since second reading. 

“We need some input, we need to get it right,” he said. “I think it is great we are going to have another kick at it and everybody’s eyebrows got lifted.” 

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