By Auli Parviainen
Published: March 7, 2014
In a recent whirlwind of housecleaning I pulled out a long-forgotten puzzle from under the bed. It reminded me of Squamish. I thought to myself, lots of little pieces strewn about – some clear and bright, others grey and barely distinguishable, some gorgeous and exuberant and some, well, downright ugly.
Numerous plans, visions and reports along with the OCP sit on the shelves at our municipal hall yet none of them seem to present the top cover of the puzzle box as the guide.
In the lost art of puzzle building in Squamish, I suggest the following steps:
Step 1 – A clear, defined and compelling picture AKA the puzzle box cover.
And yes, I am talking about a real picture – is it filled with smoke stacks and heavy industry or staid scenic natural setting filled with tourists and cars?
Or is it a town with thriving marine-based activities, industry of processing and manufacturing, knowledge-based commercial buildings, recreation, and people? Is it more than sprawling neighborhoods of single-family dwellings with a steady stream of vehicle traffic heading north and south?
Step 2 – Sort and pile pieces where they belong.
Engage in proactive land use planning and start pre-zoning. Every activity in our picture has its place and if it doesn’t, it gets tossed no matter how shiny and appealing the immediate rewards may be (promises of tax revenue, development amenity packages and the like).
If our picture includes higher density then let’s proactively pre-zone existing neighborhoods to include carriage homes, laneway housing and cottages, small lot developments and suited townhouses. If we want industrial development let’s designate the areas and make it so.
Step 3 – Lead puzzle building without fear till completion.
Building a future Squamish is a collective effort, which demands true leadership and long-term commitment to the overall picture. True leaders will empower the community to build and are courageous enough to stay the course when faced with pressure to randomly change the picture midstream.
And yes, we need to test and see what pieces fit but we mustn’t allow one erroneous decision in rezoning, such as the Industrial Park for instance, permanently alter the course of the big picture. Make no mistake, the process will be at times tedious, long-winded and discouraging but by persevering through consistent actionable steps the big beautiful and compelling picture and our future will emerge.
PS. I have located a number of missing signage pieces – maybe we can start building our puzzle with those? If they turn out wrong they are easily replaceable with the right ones.
