The Squamish United Church and the Sea to Sky Community Services Society are pooling their resources in the hopes of building a downtown community centre, complete with social housing.
Plans for the five lots at 38014 Fourth Ave., currently owned by the Squamish United Church, have been in the works for almost a decade, said Peter Gordon, chair of the United Church's board of trustees. But it's only recently that the components of the development have come together, he told Squamish council at its Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday (Oct. 11).
Sea to Sky Community Services (SSCS) and the church have signed legal agreements to co-develop the lots. The church is donating the land, along with the current sanctuary building, to SSCS so it can build new headquarters. Each party will have its own space in the strata-titled complex.
The proposal includes a new church, a neighbourhood community centre in the existing church and the possibility of up to three storeys of social housing.
Approximately 20,000 square feet of space would be dedicated to the SSCS. This will address overcrowding currently experienced at the organization's office on Second Avenue, the services' executive director, Lois Wynne, told council. It also allows the registered charity a bit of room to grow, she noted.
The hub project would place all the organization's services under one roof, SSCS community living services director Liz Wood told The Chief.
"It would bring our other staff back into a working cluster," she said, noting at the moment the organization has its resources spread out around the corridor. "It also makes referrals easier."
The concept would minimize costs for the organization that reaches more than 4,000 families annually by eliminating multiple rents, she said. The first floor of the two-storey space dedicated to SSCS would consist of programming space, with the second floor slated for office and administration services.
The social housing component can be built separately from the main hub, Gordon said. The project's joint planning committee is in discussions with B.C. Housing and Vancity in its efforts to secure funding for that portion of the project, he said. The draft outlines eight units of social housing, a number that could be adjusted upward, Gordon added.
Coun. Doug Race said social housing is a sensitive issue when introducing it into a neighbourhood. Neighbours will want to know what people it will serve and whether the housing will be rented out nightly or monthly, he said, noting if the project included three storeys of social housing it would set the overall height of the building at five storeys.
The social housing is envisioned as long-term housing, Wynne said. It would likely be used for people with developmental disabilities and be staffed by a caretaker, she added.
"We don't see it as necessarily transition housing," Wynne told council.
The proposal's joint planning committee approached council in the hope of gaining the district's financial support for the $350,000 community centre portion of the project.
Council backed the overall idea, but was reluctant to throw dollars at the project without a solid understanding of what would be required. The current council can't make financial promises because it won't be the council of the day when the project returns to city hall, Coun. Patricia Heintzman said.
Mayor Greg Gardner said he was concerned about getting involved with a new community centre, when current community space, such as rooms in the Squamish Seniors Centre, sit empty. In general, the district is excited about the proposal, he said, but council needs more specifics before making such a commitment.
The district is working on an overall recreation master plan, Gardner noted. He made a motion that the United Church and Sea to Sky Community Services Society's proposal be examined. It won unanimous approval.
"We appreciate the number of moving parts you are bringing in," Gardner said.
The hub project has been submitted to the district for re-zoning and development permit applications. The project's proponents expect to start construction next spring, Wood said.
