Recent public workshops provided developers a chance to hear what people want the Cheekye Fan neighbourhood to look like.
The sessions were part of a process surrounding the proposed 750-house development.
“There wasn’t quite consensus on what makes great neighbourhoods,” said Caroline Lamont, land development manager for Squamish Cornerstone Development. “We had a plan, and they could mark up the plan and provide comments…. There was a lot of what makes Brackendale unique.”
Squamish Cornerstone Development is a partnership that includes Bethel Corporation, Matthews Southwest Development Company and the Squamish First Nation.
Development representatives said the turnout for the first event, a lunch session on Oct. 12 at The Nest restaurant, was low, but the response to two sessions the following day was better. The first took place during the day at Don Ross Middle School, where about 70 Grade 7 students offered their ideas.
“The kids were really enthusiastic,” Lamont said, adding that they talked about everything from the need for affordable housing to winter recreation opportunities.
The evening session, also at Don Ross, attracted about 20 people to give their vision to the developers and included First Nations participants, young families and business people. “Even though it was small, it was quite diverse,” she said.
In all, participants highlighted a number of things that make the area different – for example, that housing does not follow a “cookie-cutter” approach. Other themes arising from the workshops included open space and green space, the historical phases of development in the area, the lack of a fire station, the distance from shopping outlets in Garibaldi, the need for a grocery store and the availability of smaller homes for seniors.
The workshops, Lamont said, were not aimed at tackling the questions around measures to mitigate possible debris flow in the region. She explained that the project team is required to move the process along on two fronts, one being the mitigation issue and the other being the community’s vision for the area.
At the initial meetings with the public starting in late 2014, both issues arose, and there has been some confusion, according to Lamont, surrounding the purpose of more recent consultations. For example, in September, the District of Squamish held public information sessions at the Brackendale Art Gallery specifically to look at the question of keeping the public safe from the risk of debris flow on the Cheekye.
As Lamont explained, even though the matters of debris flow mitigation and community involvement are technically separate, the development team wanted to ensure they move along as parallel processes.
For the plan for the Cheekye Fan neighbourhood, the developers expect to meet with the district in the next couple of weeks and may adjust the plan based on the public’s input, she said.
