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Golf course, housing, proposed in Callaghan

Squamish, Lil’wat First Nations submit application to province
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Could scenes like this be part of Callaghan's future? Photo by Brad Kasselaman, www.coastphoto.com

By Alison Taylor

Squamish and Lil’wat First Nations have submitted plans to build a golf course with residential housing in the Callaghan Valley.

The application was forwarded to the provincial government by Vanwest Forestry Ltd. on behalf of Squamish and Lil’wat Nations and advertised in the local newspapers for two weeks over the holiday season.

Located 2.5 kilometres up the Callaghan Forest Service Road, the proposal calls for an 18-hole course that would lie within Whistler’s municipal boundaries and, as such, is subject to approval by the Whistler council.

A detailed 12-page plan was posted on a government website but days after enquiries by Pique Newsmagazine it was removed. (see sidebar)

It is not clear at this point how many residential units are proposed as part of the project or whether they would be located within the municipal boundaries, but according to the plan:

“Detailed studies will be undertaken to identify an adequate supply of potable water and means of sewage disposal to accommodate the planned residential component in accordance with current standards.”

Squamish Nation Chief Bill Williams said this week that they are investigating their options to gauge interest and feedback.

“In every golf course there are some homes that are attached in and around for people who want to live around a golf course and we’re seeing what interest there is with that,” said Williams.

Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed was taken aback upon hearing that the application included residential development.

He said council was aware of First Nations’ plans to pursue a golf course in the Callaghan but housing was not consistent with Whistler’s development as outlined in its long-term plan, Whistler2020.

“A golf course, we think, is consistent with our land use and strategic planning,” said the mayor.

“Council does not envisage, nor did the Whistler community, any residential development in the Callaghan.”

Melamed is referring to the in-depth community consultation several years ago that ultimately paved the way for the athletes’ village for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games currently being built next to the Cheakamus River.

The Callaghan, located south of Whistler in what Squamish and Lil’wat Nations claim is traditional shared territory, was considered a prime location for the athletes’ village but the community overwhelmingly rejected that proposal, picking a site within Whistler’s existing developed area.

“(First Nations are) free to make an application like any other developer but they should know what our policies are and what our past and current positions are,” said Melamed.

Local environmentalist Al Whitney doesn’t want to see any more development in the Callaghan Valley. The $116 million Whistler Nordic Centre, site of the 2010 Nordic events, is getting built in the heart of the valley and the municipality’s new waste transfer station is also going at the entrance to the area.

“We have tried to see the Callaghan as being a really special place, not open to that kind of development at all and (we) would be very disappointed if this went through,” said Whitney.

Though he is speaking for himself, Whitney is also chair of the municipality’s Forest and Wildland Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to council. He is also a board member of the Whistler’s environmental watchdog, AWARE.

He recognizes there are delicate negotiations taking place but he questions the cost of development.

“It’s a very difficult issue because it’s our relationship with Squamish Nation and it’s our relationship with the provincial government and it’s their relationship with each other,” said Whitney. “But suffering from that is going to be the environment and the messages that Whistler wants to send out about the environment.”

He also questions how Squamish Nation could propose a golf course and housing development in the Callaghan after dedicating a large portion of the upper Callaghan Valley as a Wild Spirit Place, called Payakentsut, which is to remain protected.

“If you had worked hard at developing a Wild Spirit Place, would you then put a golf course at the front of it?”

When asked what Squamish Nation’s vision was for the Callaghan Valley, Williams spoke about opportunities for its members.

“What we want to be able to do is create an opportunity for the nation to have some revenue be generated off reserve, not only for jobs but for programs and services for members of our community,” he said.

More opportunities for the two First Nations lie with their legacy lands — the 300 acres promised to Squamish and Lil’wat Nations are part of their 2010 Games legacies.

The 150-acre golf course proposal is not part of those legacies lands.

Williams said they have not yet finalized those sites and are still going through the selection process with the province.

Two Crown land sites within Whistler’s boundaries have been on the table as potential legacy land sites. They are the highways yard, on the east side of Highway 99 and opposite Alta Vista, and the Alpine North lands, above the proposed Rainbow housing development north of Alpine Meadows.

“Those negotiations are in a constant state of flux,” said Melamed.

“We’ve said that we’re happy to recognize certain development rights that (First Nations) might have in the valley but they have to be in areas that we’ve designated as appropriate for development.”

Like the proposed golf course that is within municipal boundaries, First Nations will need approval from council for any other housing developments within Whistler’s boundaries.

According to the golf course application to the province, First Nations hope to have the land rezoned by late summer/early fall.

The golf course is expected to be open in the summer of 2010 while the residential component will begin in 2008 with phased construction.

The Integrated Land Management Bureau will consider comments up to Jan. 26.