Alternate route could still be inside park
John French
Chief Staff Writer
Plans for a gondola to the top of the Stawamus Chief have been scrapped after rejections by both the Squamish Nation and District of Squamish Council.
But the two men proposing the project are now looking to run a gondola to the top of nearby Shannon Falls instead.
Paul Mathews and Peter Alder of Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners Ltd. met with Squamish Nation elders and leaders Tuesday (Sept. 28) and followed that meeting with a presentation to Squamish Council.
The meeting with Council before a crowd of 200 interested residents at Brennan Park resulted in the local lawmakers unanimously passing a motion that gave support in principle to a gondola project as long as the project doesn't include a top station on one of the summit peaks inside the park.
The provincial government directed the proponents to meet with key stakeholders and get their feedback. The District of Squamish and the Squamish Nation were identified as the primary stakeholders and the Ministry of Transportation was identified as a secondary stakeholder along with the Vancouver Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games.
Tom Bell of B.C. Parks started the presentation by giving an overview of the province's role. Mathews and Alder followed by outlining their plan to build a gondola that they envisioned starting at the gravel pit between Shannon Falls and the Stawamus Chief. Their proposal was to take the gondola to a viewing platform on the second summit of the Stawamus Chief.
That plan is no longer looking possible after the first two consultation meetings put on by Alder and Mathews.
"They didn't jump up and down but they left the door open for further discussions," Alder said in reference to his meeting with the Squamish Nation.
The Band and Council was expected to release a statement Wednesday but as of press deadline the statement was still pending.
Donna Billy, a Squamish resident and member of the Squamish Nation Band and Council, wouldn't speak for the Squamish Nation but she is personally opposed to a gondola on or anywhere near the Stawamus Chief.
"It is our spiritual area," Billy said. "It means a great deal to us spiritually."
Billy added that the idea of putting up a gondola between Shannon Falls and the Stawamus Chief Park is also unacceptable to her.
"It is in my front yard," she said.
Mathews said the day after the meetings that he and Alder will press ahead and look at other potential routes for the gondola.
"We're wounded but still alive," Mathews said. "The key question we had I think is now answered."The proponents wanted to know if Squamish is ready for a gondola project and Mathews said they concluded that Squamish will accept a gondola as long as it doesn't go to one of the peaks of the Stawamus Chief.
"We found from the natives in the morning that the Chief is a sacred deal," Mathews said. "The problem is that they didn't participate in the master plan process for the park. We didn't realize how significant the Chief is to them."
For the newly formed Friends of the Chief, the group's mission was accomplished. The organization came together this summer to prevent a gondola from landing on one of the park summits.
Megan Olesky, Friends of the Chief organizer, said she is pleased with Council's stance on the gondola proposal. Her group is now anxious to see what the proponents put forward as plan B.
"We're going to keep the Friends of the Chief alive," Olesky said. She noted that her group is not opposed to economic development and they are not an anti-gondola organization.
Alder and Mathews are now going to do more research and seek more feedback on a potential new route for the gondola.
"We're going to look at that now in some conceptual detail," Mathews said. "We flew over it on the weekend and were convinced it is worth researching."
He said there is a slightly steeper line if the gondola goes straight up.
"You will have some dramatic views of Shannon Falls and some of the Chief," said Mathews.
According to Mathews, he and his partner now face more meetings and more feedback on a potential new route.
