A new Brackendale trail, tentatively labelled Wonderland Too, could be under construction by October.
The trail, which is proposed by local resident and designer Jim Harvey, would connect the east side of Depot Road and existing Wonderland trail, to the north end of Tantalus Road and the Bracken Trail. It would follow along the west edge of Debecks Hill.
Most of the trail would be on Crown land, except 150 metres that is proposed for District of Squamish parkland off of Depot Road.
The proposal was presented to the committee of the whole Tuesday afternoon.
“I used to build unsanctioned mountain bike trails and I don’t do that any longer so I just build legitimate trails and this is such an important connector,” said Harvey, a veteran Squamish trail builder.
“Instead of mountain bike trails I want to build trails that make sense from a community perspective. It is a missing piece in the puzzle.”
The trail would connect the Wonderland Trail, the Ray Peters Trail down to Bracken Trail, said district planner Aja Philp.
“This would create an opportunity to access and loop the Alice Lake and Garibaldi Highlands trail networks.”
Harvey has the support of the Squamish Trails Society and the Squamish Off-road Cycling Association: both organization submitted letters of support to council.
The hiking, biking, running and mountain bike trail would be single track, according to Philp.
The trail would be volunteer built and run, Philp added.
Not everyone is thrilled about the proposal.
Leah Turner spoke to the committee of the whole about her concerns, arguing the trail would impact her family’s privacy and safety as it would increase traffic directly beside her home along her unfenced property line.
The only way the trail would work along her property was if the existing vegetation that provides a barrier between the nearby homes was removed, Turner said.
“A trail that skirts so tightly our property completely removes our privacy and security,” she said in a letter she submitted to the committee. Her home and a shed at the back of her property would be exposed to people walking the trail, thus creating a security concern.
Turner, who bought her home last year, argued even if a fence was built along her property line the trail would still impact the character of her property and be environmentally negative for wildlife that use the area as a corridor.
Councillor Jason Blackman-Wulff said adapting is part of owning a home in Squamish.
“I like this idea of connecting [the trails] and the fact that it is public land and has been public land for a really long time,” he said.
“There’s never any guarantee that things are going to stay the same and when you are acquiring a property it is due diligence to understand what the land ownership is around there – and I say this as someone who owns a very similar property and I have seen changes in my neighbourhood as a result of development and I have had to make changes.”
Sharon Tait, a longtime Squamish resident and a potential neighbour to the trail, raised several concerns both at the committee meeting and in a submitted letter to council; her concerns include the proposed trail being on part of a wildlife corridor, environmental concerns, a lack of third party study of the proposal and a lack of public consultation.
Harvey said he would arrange to meet with neighbours who have concerns about the project.
District of Squamish and council approval is not required as the trail is a park use on park land.
The next step will be to finalize trial design with district staff. Harvey said he is also waiting for a section 57 from the provincial government, which would allow him to build the trail on Crown land.
If all approvals are granted, Harvey expects to be able to start construction of the trail in October.
