On the heels of a well-attended public open house and approval of first and second reading for the downtown peninsula's sub-area plan, Mayor Greg Gardner this week recommended council expand the Oceanfront park area before next week's public hearing.
Four acres will be added to the south end of the park by filling in more of the shallow water and expanding the size of the area's parks and open space to 29 acres.
"I've been saying for many years this peninsula's the opportunity for public access to the Oceanfront that our community has not had for many generations," Gardner said. "I saw a large park at the south end as being important and comments from the public appeared to agree with that."
More than 250 residents came together for the open house on Oct. 28 and despite general consensus that the plan has come a long way, one resident still had major concerns.
Squamish Arts Council (SAC) president Krisztina Egyed's voice rang loud and clear at the meeting, criticizing council for advocating a community-driven plan but not delivering.
She said there was support throughout the room to re-locate the hotel in favour of a larger park at the Oceanfront's prime location.
Egyed has been voicing her opinion since 2005 and last night she was happy to see a positive outcome after years of following the sub-area plan's development and speaking at every public opportunity.
"It's good to know all those years of effort paid off," she said. "The plan has changed drastically since the 2005 version."
Egyed has questioned herself on more than one occasion over the years, but her desire to make sure the plan was community driven made her persevere.
"I just want the community to have what they deserve," she said. "It was an awful lot of work and I went to bed many times at the beginning worried about what I was doing, but my last thought was always, 'I don't think I could live with myself if I just let it go.'"
Egyed in convinced the Oceanfront project at buildout will determine the way Squamish is viewed globally in the future.
She said "last night's council decision was a good one," but the plan isn't ideal yet.
"Based on our understanding of our unique surroundings and viewscapes, our human interventionupon itwill tell the world who we are... either a progressive, innovative cultural society or Redneck Riviera," Egyed said.
She said Squamish could choose the former "by shifting the hotel north in addition to the proposed extension of the beach."
Council members were more supportive of the amendment, although Coun. Paul Lalli voiced concerns about the increased cost.
"I guess my only concern is the five-acre park that we were looking at initially is suggested in the business plan as well as costed out," he said. "How much will this impact the cost of building out the park?"
Gardner said the park was never costed out completely and "there's only been rough estimates thrown around."
Cameron Chalmers, municipal community services general manager, said the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation (SODC) is working on more accurate estimates but added that expanding the park by filling the shallow water is the least costly option.
He said components could be added bit by bit as more money becomes available.
"The first move that SODC is contemplating is the construction of the park, but it doesn't necessarily mean the entire thing all at once," Chalmers said. "This is the aspiration over the course of the plan's buildout to bring the park to this scale."
Coun. Rob Kirkham presumed that even if the park were completed in phases, filling the water would be done all at once to avoid having to seek several permits from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
"What would be done in phasing would be all the enhancements to the park as far as any possible shaping or lagoons or hilling or whatever it is that would be additional for the beautification of the park," Kirkham said. "But step one would be filling it out to the extent that it's lined in green on the map so that there would only be one episode of permits and one episode of putting fill in the water."
Gardner said that was the intention and the expensive part of building a park is the finishing touches.
Kirkham made the motion to approve the amendment and the extra park acreage was adopted unanimously.
The public hearing will be held Tuesday (Nov. 30) and judging from the 250 attendees who showed up at the public open house, it could be a packed room.
It will be take place in council chambers at Municipal Hall and there will be a sign-up sheet for anyone who wishes to speak. At 11 p.m. Gardner will decide whether another public hearing is needed.
