The 170-acre Cheekye Fan neighbourhood proposal is inching forward.
Council unanimously passed first reading of the zoning amendment bylaw and second reading of the official community plan (OCP) amendment that help pave the way for the project slated for Brackendale.
Council also authorized district staff to collect additional fees from the developer to pay for the extra staff or staff time needed to expedite the application in 2016.
In order to consider the motions, land use issues for the development were considered separate from the debris flow hazard mitigation, which will ultimately need to be dealt with before the development proposal goes ahead.
“Hazard is the key question for this development, but the applicant has requested, and staff do support answering the land use question before answering the hazard, which will essentially determine the fate of this application,” said Jonas Velaniskis, the district’s director of development services, in his presentation of the bylaw amendments.
The proposal by Squamish Cornerstone Development, which is a partnership that includes Squamish’s Bethel Corporation, Matthews Southwest Development Company and the Squamish Nation, has undergone some recent changes.
The latest proposal includes more multi-family development and allows for more neighbourhood commercial, according to Velaniskis. The original proposal put forward in 2013 focused on single detached housing.
Possibly included in the most recent proposal would be single-family units, townhouses, apartments, assisted living housing, a childcare facility, and mixed-used development.
At least 35 per cent of the density will be multi-family, according to Velaniskis.
The proponents are also open to considering affordable housing or purpose-built rental housing options, Velaniskis said.
Also in the current proposal is the provision the Brackendale Farmers Institute Park be transferred to the district.
“The area has been recognized as having significant value to the Brackendale neighbourhood,” Velaniskis said.
All told the proposal includes 51 acres of park.
Velaniskis stressed and many on council echoed much more has to be done before the proposal can move to the next readings and a public hearing.
Outstanding issues include the possibility of an enhanced transit centre, alternative mitigation strategies, possible extension of fire service, discussions with the school district, trail connectivity and laneway use, among others.
Councillors Karen Elliott and Susan Chapelle spoke about concern over public access to trails in the neighbourhood because the developments’ strata would own them. “This neighbourhood needs to be accessible to everybody,” Chapelle said, adding she supports the overall proposal.
The developer has agreed to construct a debris flow barrier should the development ultimately be approved.
Though councillors Doug Race and Ted Prior supported the motions both expressed concern over not having more details on mitigation options and their costs.
Prior said he wanted to see figures sooner rather than later for how much maintenance of any mitigation would cost because that would be borne by the district.
“It makes me nervous,” he said.
A district staff report on alternative debris flow hazard mitigation strategies and a rough estimate of their cost is expected to be presented to council in the coming weeks, according to district staff.
No date for a public hearing on the next readings of the bylaws has been set.
The first reading of the OCP amendment was passed on March 1, 2015. The concept for the neighbourhood arose out of the 2011 Intergovernmental Cooperation Accord between the Squamish Nation and the district. The agreement included that the Nation could apply to the provincial government for ownership of 200 acres of Cheekye Fan land and for development approval of the residential and commercial development on the land.
