If Squamish's Oceanfront project ever gets off the ground - and we believe it will, perhaps as early as this summer - its development must, almost by definition, be accompanied by a strategy to ensure the orderly development of an attractive and vibrant waterfront, most particularly the portion along the Mamquam Blind Channel.
As anyone who tromps along the foreshore area will attest, the channel and shoreline can charitably be described as a mish-mash; uncharitably, in some areas, it's an eyesore. Clearly, decades of industrial use have not been kind to the channel and its surroundings, and as Ana Santos' excellent, three-part series of articles that wraps up this week (see pages A16 and A17) demonstrates, the waterway's future as a community asset, depends to a large degree on decisions we as a community make over the next few months.
Do we, for example, wish to encourage more recreational boaters to not only visit Squamish's public marina (i.e. dredging the entrance to the channel), but to take up residence there as part of a much larger houseboating/liveaboard community than what currently exists? If so, how do we ensure that the environment is protected (see last week's barge sinking and subsequent oil spill) and that living on the water in Squamish is an attractive option that adds vibrancy to both the downtown and Oceanfront areas? In our efforts to achieve those aims, how far can (given the overlapping jurisdictions on the water and on shore) and should we go in establishing regulations governing the number and type of watercraft that are allowed? Are there communities elsewhere in B.C. -Vancouver's False Creek, Victoria, Cowichan Bay, Steveston and Ladysmith have been cited as examples - that might serve as a template for the sort of waterfront community we'd like to see in Squamish?
Those involved in the development of a municipal marine strategy need our help in the form of input - and not just from those with a direct stake in the waterfront and downtown core. At least as much as the 59 acres of Oceanfront land, the Blind Channel waterfront represents an enormous opportunity to turn what's now a liability into one of our town's most valued assets.
- David Burke
