The partnership between a church and a non-profit organization to bring a new community to Squamish is precedent setting, its backers said last week.
The Squamish United Church and Sea to Sky Community Services Society (SSCSS) have partnered to redevelop five lots at Fourth Avenue and Victoria Street into a new church and community services building. The downtown centre, named Caring Place, would include a community hall, four storeys of SSCSS offices and program rooms, and seven supportive housing units for people with developmental disabilities.
The church is donating the land for the project, while the SSCSS is searching for funding, said Peter Gordon, chair of the United Church's board of trustees.
"The church came to realize we had more land on this site than we were utilizing," he said.
SSCSS operates in 13 different facilities throughout the Sea to Sky Corridor, said Lois Wynne, the organization's executive director. By consolidating some of those spaces, the society will save money, she noted.
"We see the project as something of a showcase," Wynne said.
But not everybody who attended the public meeting to discuss the project last Wednesday (Feb. 29) was in agreement. Some neighbours questioned the building's height. The proponents plan to seek rezoning to allow future expansion to three floors of social housing - which would include a total of 21 units and raise the building to five storeys.
That height would eliminate the views of the Stawamus Chief's apron for those living in the adjacent houses, said David Morris, who lives across the street from the proposed project.
"We have enjoyed these views for many, many years," he said.
Jaswant Batth questioned how the traffic generated by the planned 34 parking spaces would affect neighbours. The current draft calls for the parking lot entrance to be located on a laneway between Third and Fourth avenues. People already speed down the back road, Batth said, adding that in dry months the traffic would kick up a lot of dust.
Gordon said the laneway just behind the project would be paved.
With the lack of social housing continually a concern, Squamish resident Margaret Harney asked whether it would make more sense to decrease SSCSS's office space and increase the units for people with developmental challenges.
The SSCSS needs all the office space planned in the proposal, Wynne replied.
The four-storey development requires a district zoning amendment to change the land-use from Neighbourhood Civic to Comprehensive Development. As the proponents are ironing out issues on their end, a date has not yet been set for the project to come to council, Mayor Rob Kirkham said.
