By Nate Dolha
Published: Dec. 8, 2012
So, another news cycle in Squamish, another outrage… A dreaded rezoning application is on the books again at muni hall.
You’d think it was something worthy of our angst, given the outpouring of emotion from some of our fine citizens and one district councillor. It must be something so soul robbing that we need to circle the wagons to protect our very way of life!
The offending re-zoning culprit? A bank. Yes you read that right; a bank.
Sure, there’s a new Tim Horton’s in the proposal, but it fits the current zoning, so we’ll treat the ‘outrage’ for what it is; protectionist bluster.
So, what is at the root of this disproportionate response? Some opponents will argue that we shouldn’t cater to big businesses and their evil 1% tendencies, and instead focus on protecting ‘local business’.
While noble in intent, this claim grossly ignores the reality that this Tim Horton’s is a franchise, owned and operated by one of our own.
Others would argue that the presence of drive-throughs and their companion idling cars contribute to an increased carbon footprint. Maybe, but this, like most developments in Squamish, is car centric.
On the upside, this location is at least walkable for a large number of citizens, and would be located around similar service businesses in a commercial node, accessible by car, foot, bike, and transit.
The location of a bank on this site would better serve the majority of Squamish residents, who happen to live north of downtown, and would likely be better from an emissions standpoint over sending more folks down the highway towards downtown to do their banking.
For the token council opposition, Councillor Chapelle argues that institutions should be located downtown, as per our Official Community Plan (OCP). Again, noble intent, but let’s have a look at the realities:
First, adding another bank downtown will not revitalize anything. If that was the case, we should have a thriving downtown given the other banks present.
Second issue that I see with this claim from Councillor Chapelle is the wording within the OCP itself, which makes no such claim.
The text of item 14 – 28 of the OCP reads: “Civic and institutional uses will be permitted in areas designated Civic and Institutional, Downtown or Mixed Use Commercial on Schedule B. These uses include: government buildings, hospital, cemetery, assembly facilities, and public care facilities.”
Guess what? Aside from banks not being considered institutions in our OCP, when I look at Schedule B of the OCP, the location in question for this development is designated Mixed Use Commercial, so I believe we can drop the OCP argument, too.
Perhaps, instead of trying to force the market, Councillor Chapelle can focus on positive steps for downtown that are actually within council’s mandate, like implementing a Business Revitalization Zone, or place making activities such as the Mamquam Blind Channel path envisioned by Ted Prior?
If the desire of council is to get travellers downtown instead of passing through, perhaps a sign on the highway so they know where downtown is?
We’ve had great ideas, ample time and rhetoric around what is needed for downtown. What is missing is some leadership, political will, and action from Councillor Chapelle and her colleagues on making something happen in that space.
Now, what troubled me most in this case is not the re-zoning, the drive-through, or a councillor who attempted to influence the public process prior to the public hearing; it is the message this fuss sends to the larger investment community.
Last November we gave council a mandate to begin fixing our economic mess. We told them as a community that we needed jobs, and we needed them now. Many had dreams of landing a big fish, and having the roads to the promised Land paved with gold.
If we allow this level of polarization around a proposal for a Tim Horton’s and a bank, how could we possibly convince a large scale industrial investor to consider Squamish a safe place to explore, nevermind invest?
We need to remind ourselves that council is not here to protect us from the evil corporate overlords, they are not here to regulate the marketplace, nor are they are not here to extend the nanny state to our byways and highways.
If we want local business to thrive, then we, as a community, need to make that happen.
If we desire a strong foodie movement, then our dining establishments must create that buzz without subsidy. If we don’t want drive-throughs, then council needs to change zoning before there is an application in good faith.
So Squamish, are we open for business, or not?
Have feedback? I can be found on Twitter @natedolha, or email me natedolha@gmail.com
(Editor’s Note: A print version of this article misspelled Coun. Susan Chapelle’s last name. We regret the error.)
David says
Well stated. and great research on the OCP facts.
Donny says
Well said Nate.
It’s time Council got over this Downtown thing. They should take a lesson fron King Canute , showing that they CAN’T turn the tide.
Downtown for Squamish is no longer at the left turn off Hwy 99. It’s somewhere at and past Industrial Way. If they don’t like that reality then they should never have allowed Canadian Tire , Walmart, Home Depot, London Drugs et al.
CIBC didn’t chose the location to loose money , they had the smarts to see the inevitable shift in population needs.
Face it , Downtown is a deceased dinasaure. Get over it.
Wolfgang Wittenburg says
I hosted quite a number of European visitors throughout this past summer, and quite naturally we also discussed Squamish. It impressed them mostly because of its stunning surroundings. They were also astonished when, after having taken them to all our sub-areas – Brackendale, Garibaldi Estates, the Highlands, Valleycliffe, the Northyards, Dentville, Downtown, – have I forgotten something? – I told them these separate and disjointed parts are all known as ‘Squamish’. The general consensus was that they appear to be small towns in their own right with a strip mall along the main highway as their commercial center.
In that sense you are right, Donny, the economic center of Squamish has long ago shifted to the center of the District, and no hand-wringing or wishful protestations by councilors or others will change that.
Where I disagree with you is that the historic downtown is a ‘deceased dinosaur’ and presumably should be left to decay. Read reader Kurt Mueller’s comment to Brad Hodge’s view about ‘what downtown needs’ to get ideas from another outsider of what ought to be done. Mind you, it is not as if some of that had not already been tried: I looked at the historical photos of the ‘Royal Hudson’ and the ‘Britannia’ in the Reporter with nostalgia. Those ‘could ‘ave been’ the days to start something, but weren’t.
What is lacking here is consistency and the will to carry things through. Heck, we can’t even get a new Squamish sign in place without that project being literally studied to death.
Penny says
Great article Nate.
Vickie Nickel says
What does Squamish want down town to be? Has there been clear collaberation and consultation? What do you want your Down Town Squamish to look like? What services do you see are needed here to keep people returning to the down town core? If it is to be retail, food and beverage services there needs to be an economic shift in rental rates in order to make the businesses viable, as they would compete with businesses with lower rental and triple net rates.
Wolfgang Wittenburg says
Look at the village of Steveston in Richmond: A boutique ‘downtown’ surrounded by high density residential real estate focused on the mouth of the Fraser River and doing quite well, thank you. The real commercial center of Richmond is much further north, along #3 Road. Granted, the population living in Richmond alone is far larger than ours to support all of it, but as to a location to attract outsiders, Steveston, being out there on the southwestern tip of Lulu Island is even less well situated than Squamish is, with all the visitors travelling through the Sea to Sky corridor.
In contrast to Steveston, our downtown still has its backside turned to one of its big assets – the waterfront, but before you shout “Oceanfront Lands”, let’s first give a go to councilor Ted Prior’s sensible proposals with regard to the Mamquam Blind Channel amelioration and let’s keep redeveloping the existing downtown to make it more attractive and viable. Should we find ourselves unable to do that, I have a hard time believing that the Oceanfront Lands will one day somehow be the catalyst to bailout downtown Squamish.
EM says
Wise words Wolfgang, thank you. Downtown Squamish is our cultural center, a fact also enshrined in the OCP. I only hope people here will someday learn the meaning of self-respect and stop being so consumer-centric…
Susan Chapelle says
The only thing you have to ask yourself, is a bank an institution? If you believe it is, it belongs downtown. There is no definition of a bank that does not include it as an institution. I support my OCP.
14 – 29 The District supports retaining and attracting
new institutional uses to Downtown
20 – 4 The District supports the Downtown as
the centre for retail, service, institutional, and office
employment in the District
Nate Dolha says
I suppose it begs the question: What has the District has done to support those uses down town, besides sticking them in a document?
Wolfgang Wittenburg says
Yes Susan, banks are normally defined as ‘institution’, but with names nowadays such as e.g. ‘RBC Financial Group’, the word ‘bank’ not even present, you could just as well categorize them as ‘financial services businesses’. Semantics, I know, but let’s go to the OCP:
All it says is what uses the District is willing to support in Downtown, but this positive statement does not automatically translate into a negative for such uses elsewhere . In fact it never has, or the District’s commercial center – and I repeat CENTER – would not now be located a few miles north of the very Downtown where it should be according to the fine wording of 20-4 of the OCP.
The OCP is an outline, nothing more. Businesses, and that includes ‘institutions’, still have to have a good reason wanting to locate in Downtown. You can’t legislate that reason into existence.