After a swirl of mixed messages, District of Squamish officials want to set the record straight on the long-anticipated land-use study for the Upper Mamquam Blind Channel area.
The study was spurred by an application for a mixed-use development on 8.3 acres near the Blind Channel. Officials originally stated the study was to identify solutions that protect the values of the neighbourhood and accommodate appropriate development.
In April, municipal staff came under fire when they made a move that was perceived as limiting the scope of the study to district-owned land rather than the entire area. But that's simply not the case, DOS planning director Cameron Chalmers said on Thursday (July 28).
Kingswood Group owns most of the land in the study area and has invested a significant amount of money examining what can be developed on the property, he said. The district intended to use the application and the developer's resources as a reason to start land-use discussions. The plan was for both parties, toward the end of the process, to come together and present a district-led land-use plan to council.
"It's in nobody's interest to come forward with a plan that doesn't get built," Chalmers noted.
District staff had given Kingswood freedom to step up in the study's discussions, but officials have now decided all talks will be district-led, Chalmers said.
By September, council can expect to see a detailed schedule to facilitate public discussion. The study has gone on longer than district staff anticipated, Chalmers told council on Tuesday (July 26), but the municipality is well past the halfway mark in terms of planning.
"We should be able to pull this off fairly quickly," Chalmers said.
Fifty-eight people who live near the study area signed a letter to council reiterating the need for a comprehensive plan. It called the district's planning process to date "fragmented, exclusive - not comprehensive" and emphasized that the study "must be undertaken as a district responsibility" and not that of the developer.
