More housing
A 39 single-family lot subdivision is on its way to University Heights.
Council approved a development permit with variance to developer Michael Hutchison for the subdivision of a property adjacent to the Aristotle subdivision, at its meeting Tuesday night. The variance is to extend the maximum length of a cul-de-sac to 280 metres from 200 metres.
The development is aligned with the University sub area plan, according to District staff.
Council approval was conditional on the subdivision having 10 visitor parking spots within the so-called “Legacy Ridge” subdivision.
Councillors Ted Prior, Jason Blackman-Wulff and Karen Elliott opposed the motion on the grounds there were too many lots without enough parking and concern this could lead to issues for emergency services. With Mayor Patricia Heintzman and councillors Doug Race, Susan Chapelle and Peter Kent in favour, the motion passed.
Leisure buddies approved
Children with diverse needs will have more opportunities to have fun after council approved of a plan Tuesday for the District to contract with Whistler Adaptive to provide volunteer “leisure buddies for the kids.
The program will be open to children three to 12 years old at first, with a plan to expand to all age groups eventually.
Whistler Adaptive has been running a similar program in Whistler for 17 years.
Current Squamish programming requires parents to be at every session a child is registered for. With this program a trained volunteer will “buddy” with the child during lessons.
Parents are encouraged to drop their children off at the program and then go, thus creating a respite for families and fun and independence for the child, according to a report to council.
A maximum of 80 hours of support will be offered for summer and holiday day camps and 40 hours of a recreation program that builds “general physical literacy,” such as soccer, per year.
A maximum of four swim lesson sets per year or one private swim lesson per week for 48 weeks will be allowed, per year.
It is anticipated 30 to 40 local children will participate in this program. No extra registration fee will be charged for the programs.
The programs will have a net expense of roughly $45,000, most of which was accounted for in the 2017 District and Squamish Lillooet Regional District budgets, according to the staff report.
Last year, some Squamish parents of children with diverse needs complained to council about the lack of adaptive programming available for their kids.
