Congratulations to the mayor and council on your recent election to the District of Squamish Council. We have exciting times to look forward to in our town, and it is nice to see that we have such a diverse group of talented people to handle our affairs.
First and foremost on my list of problems facing our town is what to do about the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation (SODC) lands. I have the solution, which has not changed in the some 11 years since we acquired those lands: Get rid of all the junk down there, plant grass seed and place a few park benches around the place and use the lands for park space. There are privately held lands north of the brew pub already zoned and serviced for some 10,000 condo units which is over a 100-year supply based on a reasonable absorption of a hundred units per year (about four times the historical absorption rate per year). These lands do not need $100,000,000 in site servicing to bring them to the point they can be developed.
The SODC lands are most inappropriate for residential development for many reasons, including the rising sea levels. Even this past week, without rising sea levels, the site was totally under water. Then there are the incredible winds that hit that peninsula on a regular basis. (There is a reason that Squamish is referred to as the Wind Surfing Capital of Canada.) And finally there is simply no possible way to recover the some $100,000,000 in servicing costs for that site through development. Even taking 100 per cent of all development cost charges in Squamish for the next 100 years would not even pay the interest costs on that sum of money.
So in short, let’s quit fooling ourselves and the public about that property. We should pay off the debt with other assets we have and move on. The development of that property does not hold the key to the future success of our town.
Turning the lands into the Squamish equivalent of Stanley Park would be a visionary positive step. Just as Stanley Park borders on the highest density development on Canada (the west end highrises and office towers), the SODC lands would share that same purpose: a major waterfront park in the heart of the city.
Had the powers that be over the past three councils listened to me, we would not have a dime of debt on those lands and the public would have been able to use the entire site for park use for the past decade. But then what do I know? I have had 46 years of success as a developer and bank president; that’s what I know.
Douglas R. Day
Owner, Garibaldi Springs Golf Course
Squamish
