District of Squamish Council voted to add two conditions on renovating or building secondary suites in flood-prone areas in the community.
The conditions are for those who want to renovate or build a secondary suite below Flood Construction Level (FCL). The addition or renovation will only be allowed in areas where the flood depth is less than one meter and it is not within a Debris Flow Hazard Area.
Before this amendment, the bylaw did allow renovation or addition of a secondary suite below the FCL, but there were some conditions such as safety certification by a qualified professional.
However, the bylaw wasn’t clear on what hazards were acceptable, the District says. As a result, the District received several applications for secondary suite additions in areas with significant flood hazards, including areas where the entire suite would be inundated up to the ceiling.
District staff doesn’t believe it is appropriate to allow the addition of secondary suites where there is a potential risk to life and limb. With this new amendment, secondary suite addition or renovation would be allowed in areas considered to have “nuisance flooding” in extreme events, but with conditions.
In the same meeting, the District had given three readings to an amendment to the floodplain bylaw to enable underground parking.
In the previous bylaw, underground parking was prohibited below the seasonal high groundwater table. The amended bylaw will allow underground parkades and garages below the groundwater table.
