It's going to be at least another year before a proposed all-season resort on Brohm Ridge will have its paperwork together to move forward.
The 22,000-bed-unit Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS) project currently sits with the province's Environment Assessment Office (EAO). Officials are working with the proposed ski hill's proponents to clarify the scope and review the process of further studies order by the province in June 2010, EAO spokesperson David Karn wrote in an email to The Chief.
That will pave the way for a draft Supplement Application Information Requirements, which will be reviewed by the EAO and Squamish Nation before going to a 30-day public comment period. There will be at least one public meeting, Karn noted.
Once that's finalized the proponent will need to complete all the requirements and then submit a Supplemental Application by June 2014. That leads to another 30-day public comment period and a report to B.C. ministers, who make the final decision on whether to issue a Environmental Assessment Certificate, Karn stated.
The stack of paperwork isn't deterring Wolfgang Richter, GAS's chairman and CEO.
I am not waiting for anything, I am pushing. he told The Chief. You have to be patient and you have to wait, but you have to control the agenda.
Richter said he wants to sit down with District of Squamish officials to discuss the possibility of expanding municipal boundaries to include the proposed project. It's currently part of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District. If GAS proponents get all their T's crossed and I's dotted, Richter said it could be possible for the resort's construction to begin in 2015.
We are getting into detailed planning, he said.
In May, GAS backers compiled a study examining the possibility of sourcing the development's water from an underground aquifer in the Paradise Valley. That data was submitted to the EAO.
