Anybody who takes a closer look at the topsy-turvy Squamish commercial and residential development scene might find it difficult to figure out why some proponents get the nod of approval from District officials, while others get the bum’s rush.
Bob Cheema has been chaffing at the bit to put spades in the ground on 400-acres in the Garibaldi Highlands. Construction on that mixed-use development has been restricted until the community reaches a population of 22,500. According to Mayor Patricia Heintzman, population caps are there to make sure the tax base matches the costs of installing infrastructure for new developments.
But earlier this year Coun. Susan Chapelle presented a motion to abandon the cap. Chapelle said her decision was based on a lack of housing supply and the fact that before Cheema made his pitch, council accepted a number of greenspace projects via the Official Community Plan process. In her opinion, population caps are a poor way of dealing with sprawl.
“If there were other caps, I might think differently… It will take years to move that land through process and community outreach,” she added.
In an effort to grease the decision making wheels Cheema has declared, in no uncertain terms, that “It’s time to get it done” and has threatened to close off access to the popular trails crisscrossing his property. As it stands, the proposal remains in a state of suspended animation until the updated OCP is unveiled in December.
On another front, for close to a decade Don McCargar has been at loggerheads with the municipality over a proposed housing subdivision at the west end of Depot Road in Brackendale in an area designated as a high-risk flood zone.
Two years ago he told council other properties in the neighbourhood were being developed and he provided photo evidence to support that claim.
Despite his offer to fund substantial dike improvements, McCargar’s application is mired in red tape and he has sued the District in an effort to get redress. He claims his upgrades will increase the width of the dike threefold and could save the municipality at least $20 million in costs.
Meanwhile, former Squamish mayor Greg Gardner recently got council’s blessing, albeit pending flood control review and remediation, to develop a subdivision consisting of single-family homes in the same general area as the McCargar property. That development is located upstream from the Squamish River dike, a structure, which District staff described as “deficient.”
The only councillor to vote against the deal was Karen Elliott who said: “the era of single-family homes should be behind us.” But some observers wonder about the optics of green-lighting the Gardner venture at the same time as other proposals have been stalled.
After everything is said and done, it looks like the success or failure of this sampling of development bids comes down to a couple of factors: personalities and circumstances.
