The District of Squamish council will meet today to consider zoning changes that could open the door for small businesses along The Boulevard in the Garibaldi Highlands. Council will discuss the proposal for allowing small shops, a commercial node, in the neighbourhood at a Committee of the Whole meeting today.
The proposal is part of a broader effort to modernize local commercial zoning across Squamish. The most significant change would apply to a stretch of The Boulevard where homes currently sit on Residential 1 (R-1) lots. Staff are recommending that these properties be allowed to host small-scale commercial uses, such as hair salons, fitness studios, counselling clinics, or other similar services.
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According to the staff report, Garibaldi Highlands is the only neighbourhood in Squamish without either an existing commercial hub or future plans for one. Despite a population of nearly 4,000 people, the area has no walkable access to shops or services. The Official Community Plan calls for “complete communities” where residents can easily reach essential amenities on foot or by bike.
Staff say The Boulevard is the most suitable place to introduce commercial space. It is one of the busiest roads in the neighbourhood, centrally located, and served by two transit routes. It also has bike lanes and on-street parking on both sides, features staff believe would support the viability of small businesses.
All properties along The Boulevard are already developed with homes, so any future commercial activity is expected to be modest.
“Given the relatively small lot sizes along The Boulevard, staff anticipate that neighbourhood commercial uses will be small in scale, limited by parking constraints, and include residential uses on-site,” the report notes.
Under the proposal, neighbourhood commercial uses would require two on-site parking spaces per 100 square metres of floor area, the same standard used in the downtown core. Staff expect most businesses to remain small due to this constraint and note that residential parking would still need to be accommodated.
To support the change, staff are recommending updates to the definition of “neighbourhood commercial” in the zoning bylaw.
However, entertainment uses would be removed, and drug stores and bookstores would also be removed from the definition, because they already fall under general retail uses. Meanwhile, “indoor recreation” would be added to allow low-impact uses such as art studios and fitness rooms.
Council will discuss the proposal at a Committee of the Whole meeting at 6 pm.
Hey, Council, do you think the reason the Highlands has always been such a desirable neighbourhood to live in and has traditionally been more expensive to purchase a home in is because there is NO commercial node? What do you project will happen to property values, taxes, desireability of neighbourhood when you force this zoning change for zero known reason on to area homeowners?
There have always been home based businesses in the Highlands and now this Council decides to mess with it and designate ONE street for it (what will they do to all the existing businesses, not issue business licenses?, force them to rent space in a Blvd home? make them buy on The Blvd?). The Boulevard already has existing, unaddressed issues with traffic clashing with pedestrians going to/coming from GHE.
Heads up, homeowners on the Boulevard, you’re about to be pushed out of your neighbourhood! Here come the developers and their plans for multi-story, multi-unit buildings with commercial space/retail space on the ground floor even though this model is not working in Squamish now (Finch Drive).
“..the area has no walkable access to shops or services”(Can one not walk down/up a hill?) If walkable is your aim, why is there a requirement for 2 off-street parking spaces per 100 sq meters of floor area? How long before a 7-11 shows up on a corner lot?
Hopefully, this entire Council will be voted out and replaced with members not so intent on destroying what is. If people wanted to live in a city they probably wouldn’t have stayed in or moved to Squamish. If people want to be able to walk to services, they probably would buy in neighbourhoods where they can do just that. For 50+years, the neighbourhood has done just fine without your “commercial node”.
Is this a serious proposal The FIRST and most important item on the agenda needs to be traffic flow to the Highlands. Unless you are planning an alternative through route any additional volume flow will create significant access issues. Safety is paramount given the school crossing area on the Boulevard.
This proposal has far reaching implications.
This item wasn’t discussed and has been moved to a future meeting due to the budget workshop in the morning taking far more time than expected.
I live on The Boulevard. Follow the money, the only reason this has been dreamed up is to apply for and get $7,000,000.00 from the federal government. Application must be submitted by early January/26.
I attended the open house on Dec. 3 at St. Joseph Catholic Church. It was a joke. District Planning staff who came up with the proposal could not answer basic questions such as “When was the last traffic count done on The Boulevard” answer “I don’t know”.
This is a done deal!!
I did an informal survey of some, not all of people attending with the following results.
Reside in the Highlands – 25 yes, 2 no
Live on The boulevard – 14 yes, 13 no
Did you walk or drive to open house-
Walk – 15, Drive 12
In favour of the proposal-
Yes – 0
No – 18
Undecided – 9
Why does council listen to paid bureaucrats vs tax payers who vote?
Who wants to buy a house on The Boulevard?