Like many of my neighbours in Garibaldi Estates, I was shocked and dismayed when a solicitation from London Pacific, a property broker, was left on my doorstep.
The solicitation said that London Pacific was, “engaging several of my neighbour’s with the goal of supporting growth and density.” They continued: “Your support and feedbacks in this critical matter is necessary.”
The solicitation was alarming, aggressive and disingenuous. I checked with my neighbours and none of them support growth and density. In fact, of the 379 respondents to our petition to council, 98.4% have said no to infill and density.
I think the District of Squamish has unwittingly unleashed a speculative frenzy in the Garibaldi Estates by acting upon a revised Official Community Plan that drew a flawed conclusion. This conclusion was that the larger (VLA) lots in the Garibaldi Estates were intended for farming and were “not being used for their intended purpose and therefore were suitable for infill and densification.”
In fact, the (VLA) lots were never meant to farmed, and I can assure none have ever seen a plow, a farmer or a COW. Instead the larger lots were supposed to support subsistence gardening.
Of the petition respondents 76% of them have vegetable gardens, 57% have berry bushes, 45% have fruit trees and 84% have flower gardens. Precisely what their intended use was for.
So it begs the question, Why has the Municipality taken it upon itself to decide if a property is being used for its intended purpose; what metrics they are the using to determine this, and will this now extend to every property in Squamish?
The battle is in Garibaldi Estates right now but it will move to Garibaldi Highlands, and to other local neighbourhoods as well.
That is why it is important that council proactively listen to residents and treat this plan with some level of caution. It feels like the council has been led down the proverbial “garden path” by a flawed revision of the OCP.
If you live in Squamish and you value your neighbourhood you need to support our petition at stoptheinfill.ca or write to council and let them know what you think about this plan that seems like a decision has already been made, even though the neighbourhood has been barely consulted.
Paul Kindree is a long-time resident of Garibaldi Estates
Ihor Zalubniak says
An election is coming. An the OCP is a “living document” according to DOS. Choose carefully at the next district election.
April Lowe says
Unfortunately the election is still a year away and a lot of damage to our town can be done in that time, especially by a council whose only vision is densification!
Donald Patrick says
Good on you Paul … the consultants that become obsolete after five years of change are hiding in the closets … someone has caught on to their “make-work” program.
J. Singh Biln says
Paul; Thank you for doing this on behalf of your neighbours and on behalf of all of us who will be similarly impacted in future. I will encourage everyone I know to sign the petition and/or write to council.
David Lassmann says
The VLA was always a residential neighbourhood. Our next door neighbour kept chickens but that is the only livestock I recall. Most houses had a dog loose in the yard with no fence to confine it. Several of the acre lots on Garibaldi Way have been subdivided and now have houses on the created half acre lot. Allowing multi-family developments would increase traffic and degrade the neighbourhood. Precedents have been set by past District councils. Amendments or variances to the OCP have been made to benefit developers and changes to demographics have undermined past community values and sensibilities.
Ted says
There is a big lot at the bottom of the cut next to the church and some more larger lots on Read crescent and that’s where people see $ signs . Letters like this do help the mayor and council what they are doing might not be the best path. It also said in the ocp that all forms of housing should be. Supported . Large lots
D M says
Letters to DOS do nothing, as they do not care what people think, they are well aware that they are not liked and are wanting to make as much money as possible through these developers before the next election. I am sorry for the long time residents of Squamish, I don’t live there anymore, but understand their frustration. Vote these self-righteous people out.
Della Halvorson says
Nicely written Paul. It’s true, Garibaldi Estates is the current focus of the current council, but all of our neighbourhoods are at risk. My hope is that the community recognizes how important this issue is to our town.
Ed Styffe says
Relief from parking requirements as prescribed in zoning bylaws is a terrible mistake.
This mayor and council have to go.
Dale says
In the last council meeting when this issue was addressed one of the coucilers said that they should wait until they had a chance to educate the public. As if us poor local aren’t smart enough to understand the effect that densification will have on our quality of life. A developer has already purchased 3 aggascent lots surround our property. On 2
sides we have land owners using the same numbered company. No thanks council.
Carrie Freeman says
Very well stated!