Municipal council has delayed considering Polygon’s new proposal for its Garibaldi Springs development.
During a special business meeting on Tuesday, council decided that it would not give the proposal its first two readings, which is what was previously scheduled on its agenda.
The reason, according to director of planning Jonas Velaniskis, was that councillors felt it would be best to wait for the official 21-day commenting period on new applications to end.
That period will end next week, he said, so council may be start their readings on the application as early as June 26.
In the meantime, a public information meeting on the development has been scheduled for June 25 at the Garibaldi Meeting room in the Executive Suites Hotel — 40900 Tantalus Road — between 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Polygon’s latest submission arrives relatively soon — about a month — after council decided to turn down its previous proposal for the same development, Garibaldi Springs.
While its previous application was denied, council said the company could make changes to its proposal and try again.
Polygon appears to have taken them up on that.
Some Squamish residents have raised concerns over about how quickly the company can go back to council.
However, an information report presented to council on Tuesday said that in this case, the speedy submission is in line with proper protocol.
The report says: “If a land development bylaw is defeated, a reapplication cannot be made for a period of six months. Statutorily, the revised Garibaldi Springs development application is not a reapplication of the previous proposal — it is a new [Official Community Plan] amendment application and a revised zoning bylaw amendment, therefore the six-month reintroduction limit does not apply.”
The company’s proposed Garibaldi Springs project, which would turn the former golf course by the Executive Suites Hotel into a housing development, has been subject to much debate.
A number of Squamish residents opposed the development, and it spawned the ‘Keep Garibaldi Green’ movement.
Critics of the project collected and presented a 1,390-signature online petition at a public hearing on April 23.
