EDITOR,
The Oceanfront is a world-class location in its own right. It will attract investor interest by the very nature of its location between mountains and sea. The current thinking of the Oceanfront board (SODC) is to add to the almost $9 million dollar debt another $5 million for a park and then another $3 million as a "market fee." The simple math is the Oceanfront is worth approximately $22 million and a $9+$5+$3 = a $17 million debt. The municipality does not have the capacity to handle such a loss, nor the recent very controversial board appointments.
Currently, the SODC board has the intent to sell the land to cover the debt. This puts the control and the community benefits/amenities and the financial profit into the hands of a private developer. This fire sale of the most valuable real estate asset belonging to every citizen in this community seems to be where our Oceanfront is headed.
Those who suggest that the council should not be in the development business are quite correct. That was supposed to be the task of SODC. This writer was part of the earlier team that brought an exciting and community-favoured Oceanfront Partnership to council for approximately $1.5 million. This confirmed, through a public RFP process, the confidence from the development community for a municipal model project. The partner brought the finances and the expertise to the community and SODC held the land asset. The partner picked up the debt, covered almost every other cost including the master plan and the very costly infrastructure costs and was fully committed to operating in the partnership without owning the land. There was a long list of benefits from the partner including amenity contributions, full community access to the water and a range of parks and green spaces as the project evolved as well as a $50/50 sharing of the financial profits that lie ahead.
Again, it is not a nice park or some fancy marketing that will engage the interest and confidence of a partner in this project. What will is a clear demonstration of the arm's distance and transparency that the community Development Corporation can show. It was learned clearly from dealing with many early potential partners on this project that a municipal development model required a deep understanding that the council governs and the development board develops. Over the term of the last council, they have allowed the debt to soar and controlled the directions of SODC. It seems this could well continue after the coming election.
Larry Murray
First SODC Chair
Squamish
