What if Ogden Nash had not shuffled off this mortal coil and instead moved to the Shining Valley? Would the classic ode attributed to the late America poet look like this: “Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, I wonder where the Oceanfront lands negotiations is?”
At the moment, that waterfront property consists of a ramshackle building, identified as the Blue Barn, a windswept field, a doggie walking area and a claim by the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp. that this little patch of paradise “belongs to the people.”
Most local residents have bought into the SODC’s vision that sometime soon this will be “an innovative, sustainable, world-class ‘work-live-learn-play’ community showcasing the spirit, cultural heritage and values of the people of Squamish.”
In the meantime, details about negotiations related to the development of the former Nexen lands are sparse. The big question is whether the deliberations are still on track, or are they stalled because of a clash of communication styles, inflexible personalities, or substantive issues related to how the deal will be structured? Anyone not in the inner circle who asks questions about the proceedings is reminded that these are “sensitive negotiations” and updates are rare to non-existent because they could compromise the project.
Exactly how this transaction would falter as a result of timely progress bulletins has yet to be determined. Who cares about meeting minutia? Just give us the general lay of the land. We know councillors are kept up to speed, but they are sworn to silence by in-camera restrictions.
Still, the limited tidbits they toss out for public consumption point to the same kind of uncertainty as the rest of us have about this project’s overall trajectory. Their answers to questions regarding when we can expect a done deal range from the next few weeks, to “it won’t happen anytime soon.”
It is also possible that our elected municipal representatives are simply applying a time-honoured political strategy: a closed mouth gathers no foot. Before the final deliberations began last November, numerous public meetings were held, frequent communiqués were issued, and the SODC website was a blooming garden of mission statements, architectural drawings and flashy videos. These days most of the news on the website has long passed its best-before date.
Ultimately, residents deserve answers before this whole exercise lurches into debacle territory, as did a previous incarnation nearly a decade ago.
Of course, a number of the concerns raised above will have considerably less thrust if a comprehensive update is released by the negotiation team in the very near future. Some pundits may suggest that scenario is as likely as a Sasquatch sighting on Cleveland Avenue. Then again, anything is possible in this neck of the woods.
