By GAGANDEEP GHUMAN
Published: May 25, 2016
Published: May 25, 2016
DISTRICT of Squamish has received a rezoning application for a large development proposal that would include three separate five-story buildings with 142 condo units and 2,000 feet of commercial space, along with 34 unit float homes on Mamquam Blind Channel.
The new development would be located south of the Mireau building that is being built on the waterfront as of now, said the planning director, Jonas Velaniskis as he briefed the council on development proposals in town.
The new development would be located south of the Mireau building that is being built on the waterfront as of now, said the planning director, Jonas Velaniskis as he briefed the council on development proposals in town.
Coun. Susan Chapelle said the development in downtown needed to have more commercial area and the proposed square footage is not adequate and they should be adding another floor.
“If they are going to use the ground floor for parking and not go under, they need to add another floor for commercial use. Removing employment and industrial land is not good land use,” she said.
Councilor Ted Prior said a district of Squamish 2000 plan called for the road ends of development on the Mamquam Blind Channel to be some kind of gathering spots for the community. The limited square footage of the commercial space wouldn’t enable that, he added.
There are as many 69 development proposal at various stages before the district of Squamish. Among the biggest is the Cheekeye Fan Development, where the developer has an application to build 850 units but a number of hazard mitigation measures have to be finalized before the council can green light it.
The district has also received an application to develop a mixed-use project with a predominantly commercial focus called the Gateway project in downtown Squamish. Also in the pipeline is a 400-unit development on Scott Crescent. Another 100-unit development is proposed in Garibaldi Estates, where the council has received a proposal to rezone the lot area west of Tantalus Road from rural residential to downtown commercial to allow for a mixed use commercial residential development.
Patricia Marini says
Do we have water and sewage disposal for all this development???
David Lassmann says
Is this not lunacy? First of all, 2000 square feet of commercial space represents maybe 1.5% of the project’s development. 142 condo units at let’s say 1000 square feet per unit = 142,000 square feet of residential vs 2,000 square feet of commercial? And the 34 float homes will do what with their garbage and sewage? Whatever happened to the community plan to restrict the height of buildings towntown? We are now at 5 stories and counting? LOL.