District bylaw staff “made contact” with 215 people in June to enforce the new visitor and camping management bylaws.
The number includes camping and traffic violations, although no ticket was issued by staff.
The majority of these interactions were in Downtown Squamish, followed by Brackendale, Valleycliffe, and North Yards.
The district divides this interaction into two parts: “contact” and “noted but without contact”.
Contact is when the bylaw staff has an in-person conversation regarding the Visitor & Camping Management Plan during patrol. The interaction involves the bylaw staff offering an educational handout about where camping is allowed and available.
In this case, no “written” warning or ticket is issued, although bylaw staff keeps a track of the licence plates so they can keep track of whom they have spoken to.
“Noted but without contact” is the term used when bylaw staff have observed potential non-compliance, but didn’t find someone to speak to.
In this case, staff left a handout on the vehicle for education purposes.
The district plans to track the numbers from May long weekend through to Labour Day, though it has contacted other agencies to get a sense of increase in visitors to town.
According to the district, data collected from external stakeholders supports the observation that visitor numbers are increasing significantly.
According to data provided by the Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, there were over 8,000 people in the Upper Squamish Valley during May long weekend in 2021.
