The Local Government Act requires that all B.C. municipalities must generate an Official Community Plan (OCP) that sets out policies related to growth, land use and public services. Our municipal council and district staff will soon be up to their armpits in workshops and brainstorming sessions to update a document that has passed its best-before date.
The most recent iteration of the OCP encourages a range of housing forms, as well as tenure and affordability options to address changing family incomes and demographics.
But the District of Squamish has been chasing that pipe dream with limited success. Frankly, the housing situation in town is a mess. Developers have been given the green light to pump out high-end townhouse, condo and duplex units while the OCP gives lip service to affordability.
The upshot is a critical lack of rental space and out-of-control housing prices resulting in an inhospitable marketplace for many people seeking accommodations in town.
When it comes to development in general, the OCP has been inconsistent. Two years ago, in a 4-3 vote, council decided to keep a growth cap in place preventing Kal Cheema from developing 500 acres of land his company purchased in 2006 adjacent to the Garibaldi Highlands until the population in Squamish hits 22,500. That growth restriction has not been applied to projects elsewhere in the district.
Council has just passed third reading of a zoning bylaw amendment clearing the way for between 100 and 120 housing units at the end of Dowad Drive, just north of the Garibaldi Springs Golf Course. And a massive 178 acres, 750-unit residential development in the Cheekye Fan area of Brackendale looks to be heading for the fast track once debris hazard mitigation strategies are addressed.
In some ways the OCP appears to be out of touch with reality. It designates the downtown core as “the most important business and service centre of the community.” As much as downtown Squamish is holding its own, most commercial expansion has shifted north to the industrial park, the soon-to-be-completed Sea to Sky Business Park and the bustling retail environment in Garibaldi Village.
According to the OCP, chainlink fences used for security purposes must be concealed by landscaping features to reduce the negative visual impact of the fencing. So how have the owners of three large fenced-in vacant lots in key downtown locations evaded that edict for the past decade?
An even bigger issue is: Why have those weed-infested eyesores been allowed to blight an area that has been hailed as one of this community’s showcase venues?
As it stands now, council will need to move the OCP away from fuzzy, feel-good prognostications and transform it into a more realistic game plan with concrete timelines and benchmarks.
