The proposed pod hotel in downtown Squamish has passed through its last major hurdle at council.
On July 20, elected officials voted unanimously in favour of issuing a development permit for the proposed hotel at 37773 Cleveland Avenue.
The permit will be given to 1237946 B.C. Ltd.
This project is being spearheaded by Rodney Wilson, who is best known in town as the owner of Airhouse.
Pod hotels, which were popularized in Japan, give clients a tiny, no-frills place to stay on a budget.
There will be 48 rooms in the micro-hotel, along with a restaurant on the ground floor.
A stacked parking lift will accommodate 16 spaces, along with one full-height accessible stall, bringing the total amount of parking to 17 off-street parking stalls. This exceeds the 15-stall requirement of the zoning bylaw.
“This is an important project, because it is a small lot among many small lots in downtown Squamish, said Coun. Eric Andersen. “This is an important challenge for the downtown area and the community at large given the role of the downtown and the role that we envision for it.”
Mayor Karen Elliott also expressed support for the development.
“I’m interested to see how this really starts the conversation on how people access our community and get around our community when they’re here to recreate,” Elliott said.
She said the municipality’s climate action is encouraging new ways to access the community.
Elliott also said she liked the look of the building and how it fit in with the downtown area.
She also noted that the building is using geothermal heating and cooling, which shows that it’s possible to use this type of energy in a larger building, despite other developers’ claims that it doesn’t work in such a situation.
“That’s precedent that I look forward to following up on,” Elliott said.
