District accelerates permits for Jumar development

By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: September 24, 2018

The District of Squamish is working with developers of the Jumar project to reduce the disruption caused by construction during the school year.

One way it’s doing that is by accelerating its permit review process which will allow the developer to get some of the work done outside of the school work, said Gary Buxton, the general manager of community planning and infrastructure.

“We are keeping a very close eye on the site to ensure that access remains safe throughout the school year. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that disruption to school activities is minimized,” he said.

Buxton was responding to a letter written by a local mom who expressed her concern related to the noise and the general chaos that marks a construction site.

“I have two daughters that both go there, they have gone from looking forward to the school year to counting down how many years left they have there in enduring a construction zone. They are both crushed at the chaos and noise that they will have to endure over the next few years of construction,” said the parent.

Responding to complaints about blocking of the sun, Buxton said the issue was also considered during the development permit review. He said the impact was limited largely to time in December and there was no impact in the spring and the fall.

Buxton said the site has been privately owned for several years and development was expected at some point. “We will continue to do all that is possible to ensure the potential disruption remains as small as possible,” he said.

District communications manager Christina Moore said the district has created a document that helps parents and teachers understand what safety measures would be in place. It was emailed to the school principal a week before school began and can also be seen here.