A group of citizens has begun to create a vision for the future of Squamish's waterfront - a vision which may broaden to include more land.
During council's meeting Tuesday (Feb. 3) it was revealed that other BC Rail (BCR) lands in the waterfront area will soon be handed over to Squamish.
Land owned by BCR and leased to Nexen at the mouth of Howe Sound was promised to the District of Squamish as part of the sale of BCR's operations to CN in November of last year.
But at council Tuesday, Coun. Corinne Lonsdale said people were expressing concern to her that jobs on other leased BCR land in the area might be in jeopardy.
She asked Mayor Ian Sutherland if the jobs at Superior Propane or Rasio Chemicals will be lost with the waterfront development.
Sutherland reassured her and those who work at the waterfront that no jobs will be lost.
"Our intention from day one was to acquire land owned now by BCR and not being used by anyone," Sutherland told The Chief.
A key piece of BCR land that currently isn't being used is the property that GBA Logging wanted to use for a wood chip reload facility three years ago.
That property's boundary includes Galbraith Avenue, which is currently the only access road to the former Nexen lands.
Sutherland wouldn't specifically say what additional land or lands are being negotiated with BCR and the province.
Meanwhile, a design charrette to determine the overall vision of what will be done with the waterfront started its deliberations Wednesday morning (Feb. 4).
The participants sitting on the charrette's design panel were introduced and given a chance to outline who they are, who they represent and what they hope to get out of the process.
The Fraser Basin Council (FBC) is leading the effort with the Sustainable Communities Program (SCP) at the University of B.C.
Bob Purdy of the FBC opened the charrette by introducing the concept and outlining what is going to happen over the course of the five days of planning work.
Coun. Sonja Lebans was on hand to launch the initiative and Elisa Campbell of the SCP offered a further explanation of with the design panel is going to do.
She said at the end of the process there will be land use plans, illustrative plans, perspective drawings, guidelines and more for the former Nexen lands and the estuary lands around that property.
The group has a set of guiding principles to take them through the design process. There are a total of eight principals that were created based on the feedback SCP and FBC received through a series of open houses leading up to the charrette. From the open house process SCP created a set of 13 goals and objectives. The goals and objectives cover four areas: the economy, the community and social issues, the environment and the process.
Campbell told those gathered at the kick-off to the process that linkages to the property are important.
"We want to look at the linkage to the highway and the entry to the downtown," she said. "We'll also be looking at Site B and some of the land on the other side of the water."
Campbell noted that the boundaries of the study area are "fluid" so the panel has the flexibility to discuss relevant areas outside of the primary study region.
Patricia Heintzman is one of the panel participants and she told the gathering that she is looking forward to having greater access to Squamish's waterfront.
"My parents came up here to visit and when they drove up it was cloudy and dark," Heintzman said. "When I took them back to the airport they saw Howe Sound and said, 'Squamish is on the ocean.'
"I said, 'Yeah, that's a problem isn't it?'."
Each member of the large design panel has a specialized interest. Heintzman was appointed to focus on issues of concern to local residents while Tom Bruusgaard was appointed for his expertise in waterfront industry.The former harbourmaster said he is intimately familiar with all marine activities in Squamish.
Hew Kidston will also be looking out for the interests of industry. Kidston works for the properties division of Interfor.
"From Interfor's perspective, what we'd like to see is a clear indication of what the community wants the water front to be used for."
Interfor has a keen interest in the future of Squamish's waterfront because the logging company has extensive property holdings along the Mamquam Blind Channel.
Meg Fellowes is representing the Squamish Estuary Conservation Society and she said one concern for her group is tree preservation because that relates to bird habitat.
"How do we accommodate development while maintaining a healthy bird population," Fellowes asked.
Once the process is completed, the design concepts created by the panel will be presented to Squamish Council. Once in the hands of Council, the document is expected to become an official record and it will be used as a guideline for developing the former chemical plant site and some other key areas near the downtown core.
Coun. Lebans was joined by Coun. Dave Fenn at the kick-off event.
The charrette process is expected to conclude Feb. 12. A mid-course review will take place Feb. 10. The 30-team design will present its work and receive input and comments on the proposal.
