Blueprints are officially being made for the future of the Newport Ridge Lands.
At the May 13 committee of the whole meeting, District staff said that they received an Official Community Plan amendment application to produce a neighbourhood plan in May 2023.
The application included “a high-level conceptual development plan,” which according to the report to council, will culminate with the creation of a Neighbourhood Plan to identify the needs and priorities for the subject lands between the Garibaldi Estates and the Garibaldi Highlands.
According to the BC Land Title and Survey Authority, the developer and registered landowner is Luckward Properties (B.C.)
District planner Aja Philp told council that the plan is for “what that neighbourhood build out will look like, how it integrates into our broader community, how it relates to adjacent neighbourhoods.”
“Newport Ridge lands comprise just over eight hectares of greenfield lands. The lands are located adjacent to the existing Garibaldi Estates residential neighbourhood, the future Garibaldi Springs Phase 3 development and the existing Garibaldi Highlands residential neighbourhood,” she said.
“Newport Ridge lands are within the District's growth management boundary. The lands are designated residential neighbourhood and identified for future sub-area planning. So this means that a sub-area plan should be adopted by council before any new development is permitted.”
The report to council states that most of the subject lands are currently zoned Multiple Unit Residential 5, which are intended to accommodate low-rise apartment development and neighbourhood commercial.
The small parcel east of Newport Ridge Drive and Starview Place is currently zoned Comprehensive Development Zone-65 to allow for single-unit dwellings on small bare land strata lots.
The report also states that the neighbourhood plan process will incorporate a number of strategic plan objectives, which include:
- Generating a net increase of new parks, trails and gathering spaces by September 2026
- Increasing the diversity of housing forms and tenure types year-over-year to promote affordable and attainable housing for people living in Squamish
- Create a net increase of employment lands and spaces, both on land and marine, by September 2026.
Philp said that the land currently has two road access points located at the end of Newport Ridge Drive and the end of Pia Road, but no actual roads have been built on the property as of yet.
“The 2025 Transportation Master Plan identifies a potential road connection from Newport Ridge Drive to Pia Road through the Garibaldi Springs and Newport Ridge lands, but constructing this new road would require crossing through environmentally sensitive riparian areas and also ascending a steep forested slope to reach the upper Newport Ridge lands. So this may pose feasibility challenges,” she said.
There are also a number of trails on the lands which Philp said would need to be addressed as part of the neighbourhood planning process.
“Another key item to address is [that] there are existing trails on the lands, several critical connector trails run through the Newport Ridge lands and connect residential neighbourhoods in the valley bottom up to the Garibaldi Highlands, Alice Lake trail network and recreational lands beyond,” she said.
“Addressing these critical connectors is another important component of the plan process.”
An environmental assessment of the land would also be required as part of the plan.
“The lands also contain a range of environmentally sensitive areas, including sections of Meighan Creek and Thunderbird Creek, as well as areas of mature forest. So, an environmental assessment will be another key component to determine constraints to the development of these lands,” Philp said.
“Transportation trails and environmental assessments are not the only inputs we need to address through the process; the council's strategic plan, our official community plan, and a host of other applicable district plans and policies need to be incorporated.”
A key difference between the creation of the Newport Ridge neighbourhood plan versus other neighbourhood plans within the community, is that a technical assessment will be completed earlier on so that District staff and the developers can “get a solid understanding of the constraints to development of these lands earlier in the process.”
Philp said District staff are also proposing to do three rounds of community engagement.
“The first round will focus on determining the community's priorities for the new neighbourhood, a second round to explore plan options and preferences, and a third round to get feedback on the draft plan before we finalize the plan and move into the formal bylaw reading process,” she said.
Council comments
Committee of the whole meetings are less formal than regular council meetings. They are used for discussions before official decisions being made.
During this meeting, councillors expressed their support for the new neighbourhood plan, but did not make their final decision on it as a whole.
Mayor Armand Hurford said he believed what was included in the report to council was a “reasonable path forward to figure out what can and should happen on this parcel of land.”
“I look forward to seeing what the outcomes are and there are some substantial technical challenges with the site, so we'll see where this process leaves us,” he said.
“But I'm confident in the process you have outlined, and that any showstoppers will be highlighted early on, which is really helpful for all involved.”
Coun. Jenna Stoner said that all landowners have a right to make an application to redevelop their lands.
“We have a duty to engage in that process and provide a fair way through, and I think that what is presented here starts to do that,” she said.
“I really appreciate staff’s effort to bring as much of the technical analysis forward early, so that we don't engage our community too deeply before we know what is actually possible.”
She also said that a few elements of the plan could be “showstoppers” due to the challenging lands and the geography.
“So if the developer and the applicant are interested in pouring money in at this point to try and figure out a path forward, then that is up to them, and I will participate in the process with a willingness to see where we can get to,” Stoner said.
“This is the start of a long road, and so I'm looking forward to seeing where we can get to on it.”
Coun. Andrew Hamilton said he appreciated the decision to complete the technical analysis early on in the plan process.
“I think the core of this recommendation, that we move the technical analysis first and foremost ... is extremely important, as we see a developer imagining what they want to do and investing money and thinking of what they want to do; but then running into some constraint from a technical point of view. It can become challenging,” he said.
“So the core of this, bringing the technical analysis to the forefront, I think, is extraordinarily valuable, and I know that I'll use that in the future to make an informed decision on what is or is not viable on particular land.”
Coun. Lauren Greenlaw said that it was nice to have “realistic expectations” going into this neighbourhood plan process for “stability and consistency.”
“I also think it's important to identify the level of input that the public will have going into this ... just to set the expectations clearly from the get-go and have a clear path of how we're going to engage with and interact with the community,” she said.
The Newport Ridge Neighbourhood Plan was received unanimously by council and will return to a regular council meeting at a later date.
