Squamish will soon have a new Official Community Plan and, I have to say, it looks pretty good.
Most impressive to me is the how planners built the flood hazard management into the District’s growth management plan, showing that the municipality isn’t being cavalier with your safety, even if they really should have planned it all out a lot sooner.
The areas at highest risk on the Cheekye Fan – the land formation created by sediment deposited from water flow and landslides – aren’t being targeted for significant infill or major developments. That would be too risky in the event of a landslide.
But maybe the OCP doesn’t go quite far enough.
Limited development is still being allowed in Brackendale, although we know that the more buildings they add to the area, the more rubble a landslide can pick up in the event of a disaster. Really, any extra fuel for that disaster is too much. We really just shouldn’t be building anything new anywhere in the debris field at all.
Yes, there is some work the District can do to protect area residents, but nothing we do can reduce risk completely. Just watch how quickly an act of God can destroy the most carefully-laid plans.
If you already live there, that’s one thing, but to put more people at risk by adding more homes or businesses to that region, well, that’s just not okay.
Say what you will about urban sprawl and the Cheema lands, but at least that area is elevated and out of both the debris and flood zone. Building up there sure is a lot safer than where many people are already living.
Not to mention what opening up that land could do for the region’s housing options.
Housing is another big one in the OCP, and again, the District is doing a really good job planning-wise.
They’re encouraging “affordable” housing in a number of ways, such as by allowing greater density, allowing bonus density floor space for developments with ‘affordable’ or rental housing (including secondary suites), and expediting permits or lowering development fees for affordable projects. All good things.
I’d also like to see the District update the OCP after the province gives munis the power to pre-zone areas as rental. Rental-only zoning could protect existing rentals, and could pre-zone certain undeveloped areas for future rental (preferably not ones in the debris field). That’s one way to encourage affordable housing.
But, we need to remember, good policy on paper doesn’t necessarily translate to affordable housing in reality.
We’ll have to watch that the next council demands enough out of developers, so they can’t get away with big projects with minor benefits to the community, creating ‘affordable’ housing in name only.
Let’s keep an eye on that one.
