The backers of the Garibaldi at Squamish four-season resort proposed for Brohm Ridge are seeing a silver lining in a court decision quashing the provincial government's approval of their project.
Mike Esler, the president and CEO of Garibaldi at Squamish Inc. (GAS Inc.), said a court decision officially handed down last week sets a schedule that must now be followed.
The first order of business is for the province to consult with the Squamish Nation on the GAS Inc. application to introduce two golf courses and a new lift configuration for the project.
The Squamish filed suit against Land and Water B.C. (LWBC) last year, alleging that the Squamish were not appropriately consulted when it was decided that the GAS Inc. project area would be expanded. The arguments were heard last month at B.C. Supreme Court and Madame Justice M. Marvyn Koenigsberg delivered an oral ruling an on Sept. 27 siding with the Squamish Nation and delivered her written reasons last Friday (Oct. 15).
"It is obviously a positive note in that at least now there is a schedule for the consultation between Squamish Nation and the provincial government," Esler said. "That is what was lacking before. We are optimistic."
Esler expects the consultation with the Squamish Nation to take between 70 and 90 days.
"We welcome that and we are optimistic that they will sort out our differences," Esler said. "After the consultation is done the environmental assessment process will get kick-started again. As part of that environmental assessment process, we the proponent, will be going out to the public."
Esler said that the documents that were filed with the provincial government will be made public. When that happens it will be the public's first real look at the revised master plan for the project.
A change in the ownership of the project resulted in the proposal growing from a total area of 2,580 hectares (6,260 acres). The original proposal called for a 10-km road from Hwy. 99 to the new village with the lift system concentrated in the upper reaches of the project.
As well, the golf element was to consist of just a golf training centre. The new ownership group revised the plans to show a gondola from a parking lot very close to Hwy. 99, a commercial centre in the parking area and two golf courses close to the highway. LWBC approved the expansion proposal on Sept. 17, 2003 and the Squamish Nation filed suit about one month later.
Along with the Squamish Nation complaints about a lack of consultation, the Squamish Nation asked the courts to quash a September 2002 decision that recognized Bob Gaglardi and Luigi Aquilini as the controlling partners in the venture. The pair took over control of the project from Wolfgang Richter.
Richter and partners he brought onto the project also filed lawsuits alleging the take over by Gaglardi and Aquilini was done illegally. Those lawsuits remain unresolved.
Despite the legal issues that continue to hang over the proposal, Esler is thinking ahead to when the Squamish Nation consultation issue is resolved.
"There will be more consultation at a public level once the Squamish Nation consultation is done," Esler told The Chief. "We have to meet very specific terms of reference with respect to public consultation."
According to the Environmental Assessment Office website, there will be a comment period of between 45 and 60 days once the office deems that the project report is complete. In those 45 to 60 days First Nations, government agencies and the public will have a chance to comment on the project proposal. At the end of the comment period, all the information on the project will be forwarded to the Minister of Sustainable Resource Management and the Minister of Competition, Science and Enterprise. The two ministers will decide if a project approval certificate will be issued.
Esler said he wants to take the revised plans to the public but won't do so until the exact study area is determined and there won't be surety on that until the Squamish Nation consultation is completed.
"Until all that sorts itself out we can't possibly go to the public because we don't know the scope and size of the project," Esler said.
He added that at this time it is premature to talk about a date for the start of construction.
