If FortisBC builds its proposed compressor station at the Mount Mulligan site, it will have to go before the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District Board for rezoning.
Area residents in the Valleycliffe neighbourhood have expressed concerns over the plan to have a gas-powered compressor station nearby, they live within the District of Squamish, not in the unincorporated part of Area D in the SLRD where the station would be built.
The plan does not require an amendment to the Area D official community plan but would need rezoning, which puts the SLRD board in a complicated situation. None of its residents in the electoral area live near the proposed site, though Squamish residents do.
“At some point, we’d have to have a public hearing,” Area D Director Tony Rainbow said. “It’ll be an interesting situation…but that’s a long ways down the road yet.”
The proposed gas-fired facility would be built approximately 1.8 kilometres from the nearest residence in Valleycliffe. FortisBC considers the idea part of its pipeline project from Eagle Mountain to the proposed Woodfibre LNG site. The Mount Mulligan site has been pitched as an alternative to a site in the Squamish Business Park, which was rejected.
There was a meeting at The Ledge in downtown Squamish on June 23 that attracted about 50 Valleycliffe residents. Members of the anti-LNG group My Sea to Sky were also on hand.
Rainbow said there were also representatives from the District of Squamish council.
“I went to that meeting,” he said. “It was good to have that representation from both areas, and I think they kind of understand the joint jurisdictional nature of the situation.”
One possibility, Rainbow says, is that the District of Squamish could look to annex the site and bring it within municipal boundaries.
There are issues with this idea though because it would be a lengthy process, meaning the rezoning would still have to go before the SLRD in the meantime in order for a compressor station to be built.
“Any decisions about zoning,... that will have to be done while it’s in Area D,” he said.
Rainbow expects if they have a meeting for rezoning, the Valleycliffe residents will attend to express their feelings about the proposed compressor station.
As well, he says that annexation presents a dilemma because it could mean more revenue for the District of Squamish on the one hand but also more responsibility in terms of maintaining access and providing fire protection.
“It takes time,” Rainbow said, adding, “I’m not really sure they want to do it.”
At present, there are many possibilities, especially as the rezoning has yet to be presented to the SLRD for first reading.
What Rainbow does expect is that he will have to meet with Mayor Patricia Heintzman, who also sits on the SLRD board, to talk about the next steps.
“I’m sure we’ll have a joint meeting about it at some point because it’s such a sensitive issue,” he said, adding that the whole SLRD board needs to hear the District of Squamish council point of view on the idea. “It shouldn’t just be me meeting with Squamish council,” he added. “I think the whole board needs to be involved if it moves forward.”
Rainbow also wants to tour the Eagle Mountain compressor station in Coquitlam to get a first-hand look at any possible issues around noise or fumes. Last November, FortisBC invited the public on tours of that site.
“The expected total GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions from the compressor station will still be below federal, provincial or regional GHG reporting requirements, including the BC Reporting Regulation and the Western Climate Initiative reporting mandates,” FortisBC states on its website.
