The public will be able to comment on a proposed 35-townhouse project slated for the Loggers East neighbourhood.
On Dec. 6, council voted unanimously to grant the project second reading, sending the proposal to a public hearing.
Coun. Chris Pettingill amended the motion so that no natural gas would be permitted in any of the units. Previously, the application stated that no natural gas would be provided. All of council supported his amendment.
Since second reading has passed, Squamish residents will be able to voice their opinions on the matter during a public hearing that has been scheduled for Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. at Municipal Hall Council Chambers and electronically via the District’s website.
District staff have identified the proponent of the project as Empowered Development.
In addition to building residential units, the project, proposed for 1005 and 1009 Raven Dr., will create an agricultural zone and playground space.
The intent of the agricultural zone is to provide a community garden for a longstanding non-profit.
“The area is proposed to be subdivided off and transferred to the District and the District will be able to lease the area to Squamish CAN for a nominal fee,” said municipal planner Bryan Daly.
Furthermore, two of the townhouse units will be secured as affordable rental housing.
For 33 townhouse units, there will be two enclosed tandem parking spaces within a garage and a surface parking stall outside of the garage, said Daly.
Two units will have two enclosed side-by-side parking spaces within a garage and a surface parking stall in front of the garage.
Furthermore, there will be nine visitor parking stalls, which Daly said meets the zoning bylaw requirement. The applicant also proposes an additional 10 visitor parking stalls for the agricultural area.
The developer is also committing to build all units to a carbon-neutral standard, meaning the facility will emit zero greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of all energy required to heat or cool the buildings over the year, a staff report says.
Pettingill said he was torn about allowing this development to go to the next step.
He said his primary concern was its proximity to the upcoming FortisBC Eagle Mountain-Woodfibre LNG pipeline, which is expected to run through the neighbourhood.
“[The pipeline will be] on Finch [Drive], but it’s less than 100 metres, and I still am not able to get from Fortis clarity and confidence on the actual risk numbers,” Pettingill said.
Nevertheless, he said this project had merit because of its attention to the environment.
“Because of the high aspirations in the Loggers East neighbourhood plan, we are seeing developments come forward, which are really paying attention to the climate crisis, which is somewhat ironic,” Pettingill said.
Mayor Armand Hurford said that this project has gone through a few iterations.
He did have some questions about the waste room. Architectural drawings show a waste enclosure on the project’s westmost side, near lots on Kingfisher Road.
“I think when we hear waste room and the neighbours hear waste room, it’s easy to think of the sort of worst -worst case scenario there,” said Hurford. “What stipulations are there around the servicing of that to make sure that this isn’t something that’s like a landfill that gets picked up once every six months adjacent to their property?”
Daly said the strata would sort out the waste service timelines.
He added the developer is trying to work out a different location with BC Hydro, but this is not guaranteed because the development intersects the utility’s right of way.
Other councillors also expressed concern about the waste room’s location and added they would like to hear what the public has to say.
“This project has evolved throughout the process, and I’m quite happy with where we are at this point,” said Hurford. “The agricultural piece of this, I think, is actually quite remarkable and happy to see the affordable units in there as well.”
