If you care about important community events and you want to make your voice heard, you're in for a long week.
Our local governments are back to school with a vengeance, with three important public hearings on major developments in two days next week.
In general, public hearings are mere routine blips in the course of a regular council meeting, with the proponent and possibly a few affected neighbours saying their brief pieces before council votes.
These public hearings are anything but ordinary, with so many people expected to raise their voice that the normal confines of council chambers won't do.
On Monday (Sept. 13) at 6:30 p.m. at the Sea to Sky Hotel, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District will hold public hearings on an application by Ledcor Power to permit a run-of-the-river power generating station on the Ashlu River. While there are relatively few local residents affected by the development, the project has gained widespread publicity due to the river's reputation in the watersports community. Activism over the Ashlu has turned the spotlight on independent power projects (IPPs) across B.C., with the kayaking community and local residents taking the lead against the project, while even Squamish council looks ready to come out in opposition.
Look for a long and possibly quite rancourous public hearing and for the SLRD to go with the rising public tide against Ledcor.
Then, the next night, Brennan Park is the scene for public hearings on both the application by Wal-Mart to re-zone land in the Squamish Business Park to build a big box store and by a developer who wants to put four-storey apartments in our town centre.
While the Ashlu public hearing will likely sway the SLRD away from approval, we don't see Squamish council saying anything but "yes" to Wal-Mart at this point. Past history has shown that the majority of people of Squamish are in favour of big box retail, and even Wal-Mart's controversial corporate history is not going to be enough to change enough people's minds. This council has given every indication over the past two years that it will follow through on the actions of its predecessors and give the green light to Wal-Mart.
Nothing, of course, is certain until the last speaker sits down and council votes. Council has to listen to the public, but it is by no means bound to act in accordance with whoever's brought out the most people. Public hearings can be useful indicators of the community's feeling on an issue - but they can also be very misleading, particularly on an issue where there's a silent (or at least quiet) majority on one side and a vocal minority on the other - like we suspect there is in this case.
As usual, there's only one way to make sure your voice is heard, and that's to be there.
