After Macdonald Development failed to buy a parcel of land for its Britannia Beach project, the company redesigned its development and presented the changes to the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District board on Jan. 30.
Its original development plans — which were approved by the SLRD — were made under the assumption the company would be able to acquire a piece of Crown land in the area.
However, since the company has been unable to buy this land, it has been forced to redesign its development.
The makeover of this project required the SLRD board to rescind its previous approvals for development and once again go through the approval process for this new design.
As of its most recent meeting, the board has passed this new design through first reading.
Much of the discussion revolved around changing how many commercial and residential units would be in the development, decreasing by six commercial buildings and three rental units. Two of the commercial buildings include two of the three heritage honeymoon cabins.
The SLRD board moved to put in an application to acquire the Crown land that Macdonald couldn’t obtain.
Macdonald agreed to pay for amenities that would go on the parcel, should the regional district successfully acquire the land.
Some proposed amenities included a community garden and children’s playground. Securities for the amenities can be collected from the developer, but if the SLRD does not acquire the Sponsored Crown Land Grant within five years, the securities will be returned.
All seemed to agree the Crown land by the river is the best place for those amenities, but there may be other options, such as moving the playground closer to the community hall.
Board members voiced their concerns about what would happen if the SLRD couldn’t afford the land, since the developer was not able to pay for it. The Crown could sell the land, but the land would still need to be rezoned — with SLRD board approval.
The board moved that the amendments went through the first reading only, rather than both the first and second reading. When the project goes to second reading, discussion is anticipated to revolve around the number of rental units, and the placement of the community garden and playground.
~With files from Braden Dupuis.
