According to B.C. Assets and Lands corporation, "a major announcement" on the Garibaldi Alpen group’s application to develop a ski area on Brohm Ridge is on its way within the next few weeks.
The Garibaldi Alpen group submitted a final proposal package to BCAL in December of 2001, after more than five years of planning. During that time Garibaldi Alpen principal Wolfgang Richter was waylaid by the Environmental Assessment Office, and had to rework his financing.
In 1996, Richter’s group won the exclusive right to proceed with the planning of a four-season resort on Brohm ridge. He signed a four-year interim agreement with the province in 1997 to explore resort development.
During that time Garibaldi Alpen was asked to come up with a detailed plan that would meet the requirements of the Environmental Assessment Act and the Commercial Alpine Ski Policy.
After the initial review, the Environmental Assessment Office determined that there were issues that needed to be resolved in the areas of sewage management, water supply, impacts on Garibaldi Provincial Park, impacts on regional growth and traffic management, socio-economic impact, and project viability.
While working on their follow-up plan, Garibaldi Alpen ran into financial troubles. The last year of the interim agreement was spent securing financing and developing partnerships for the project.
The four-year interim agreement expired on Feb. 28 of 2001, but Garibaldi Alpen was successful in getting a 60-day extension. Richter submitted his new plan on the final day of the extension, which BCAL then submitted for a legal opinion.
BCAL then asked for more information last summer, including more details on financing, real estate development, resort construction and marketing, as well as outstanding environmental studies.
If the final package submitted in December is accepted by BCAL, Garibaldi Alpen can start to take the first steps towards developing the resort. If not, the group will likely lose the exclusive rights to develop the area, and it may be opened up to other tenure applications.
