After hosting a well-attended open house detailing their plans for the Garibaldi Springs golf course lands, Polygon Homes decided to postpone a presentation to District councillors scheduled for Tuesday night.
Mayor Patricia Heintzman said she was told the developer had received feedback from environmental groups and wanted to delay the first reading until a follow-up could be conducted.
“They want to have those conversations and return,” said Heintzman.
A Polygon official also told The Chief that with Coun. Ted Prior away Tuesday night, the company also wanted to wait to have first reading in front of a full council.
A new date for the proposal has not been set yet, but Heintzman said the topic will likely return to council in November.
Earlier in the week, Polygon sought feedback from community members at a well-attended open house on Oct. 11 at The Ledge Coffeehouse.
Since Polygon first released its early plan to build a community of two and three‑storey townhomes on the site, it’s been a topic of hot conversation among residents and councillors.
The mayor said she went to look at the updated plan and the 3D model on Wednesday. She said while she remains open-minded as the developer approaches council, she’s received many letters from the public, both for and against the project.
“It’s always good to hear the public’s perception, it’s fundamental to our process,” she said.
Polygon bought the land – 119.5 acres – from Doug Day in a private land sale in 2016.
The majority of the land is currently zoned as green space in the District’s Official Community Plan.
Polygon changes plan to try and please
Polygon is asking council to approve an amendment that would allow housing to be built on part of the green area.
“It’s always tough when you take green space out of an OCP,” said Heintzman in an interview on Monday. “Everything you see around you was once green space in an OCP, pretty much. There’s a very high criteria to even start to consider something that comes out of a greenspace designation.”
Polygon is trying to meet that criteria and convince council to allow the build. The updated proposal, unveiled on Wednesday and originally coming to council on Tuesday night, brings the total number of units down from 520 to 395.
Polygon has proposed building residential units on 33.5 acres of the land. The leftover land would be given to the district for 4.5 acres of park land and 81.5 acres of ecological reserve. The land would include extensive trail network and amenities funded by the developer.
The plan also outlines the potential to fund any further park maintenance through townhouse strata fees and the rental income from the property’s clubhouse, which would be donated to the district.
Five per cent of the housing, representing around 20 townhomes, will be set aside for affordable housing, according to the District of Squamish affordable housing policy.
“What we’re trying to do is have a model that provides housing for first-time home buyers, but also finds a way to protect 85 acres of land as natural habitat,” said Polygon CEO Neil Chrystal at the event on Wednesday night.
“That’s a big change from July. It used to be that we were just turning over a bunch of land to the district, but we’ve now made a much clear distinction that most of the 85 acres is an ecological reserve. It will be zoned differently and be untouched. The city park area is a much smaller part of what we’re giving the district.”
Chrystal said he understands why residents living adjacent to the property would like it to remain completely open, but he said it is private land, not a public park. He said the new proposal, with four individual pockets of housing, will “maximize public space.”
Even with the latest changes, the development has organized opposition.
A group of residents under the banner Keep Garibaldi Springs Green said it has received over 800 signatures on a petition opposing the project.
Councillor Susan Chapelle also attended the Wednesday event. She said she remains “extremely skeptical” about the plan to cover the maintenance costs of the parkland.
“I’m not swayed,” she said.
“It’s not just [the park costs] it’s the whole idea that we have an Official Community Plan, we worked really hard on…. We did all that engagement, and nobody said please remove the green space and build more townhouses.”
Chapelle said she could be convinced by the proposal, if it had enough public support, but she’s reluctant to build on green space when so many residential projects are planned for Squamish.
