Site work at the Lil’wat Nation’s long-awaited development in Whistler’s Function Junction neighbourhood is expected to start in the spring. The project is part of a series of initiatives intended to boost the Nation’s economic presence on its unceded, traditional territory.
Rosemary Stager, CEO of the Lil’wat Business Group, provided an update on the project at the Pemberton Chamber’s “lunch and learn” event on Sept. 28.
“Our plans aren’t finalized, but we are looking at a mix of commercial and residential buildings,” said Stager. “Maybe about four or five residential and commercial buildings. It will be blended. We are looking at also having a gas station … We are hoping to start that work next spring.”
Stager is extremely determined to get work on the site completed during her time as CEO. She is the daughter of late Stl’atl’imx Hereditary Chief Allen Stager, and was previously a member of Lil’wat Nation council.
Located just off Highway 99 at the entrance to Function Junction, the Lil’wat Nation reclaimed the lands through the Legacy Lands Agreement of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The plans were first proposed in 2017, but a series of unexpected delays followed. Whistler’s mayor and council issued the first conditional development permit for the work way back in October of that year.
The project was last before council in February 2022, when council approved a related development permit.
Traffic access has proven a sticking point for the development, and a previous traffic study conducted by the Lil’wat Nation found the development would generate a five-per-cent increase in traffic.
Ultimately, the Nation and B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) settled on an incremental approach to traffic improvements. Plans include dedicated left-hand and right-hand turn lanes as well as a straight-through lane departing Function, along with the addition of a 110-metre southbound acceleration lane on Highway 99. Lynham Road will also be realigned to form an intersection with the access point into the development, while the Valley Trail will be connected from the intersection at Highway 99 to the nearby CN Rail crossing.
The Lil’wat and MOTI will split the roadwork responsibilities.
In her speech at Big Sky Golf Club on Sept. 28, Stager explained the Lil’wat Nation were always an economically minded, independent people.
“It’s part of the legacy lands that my late father worked on. It’s a project close to my heart,” she said. “There was always a desire to have economic development and a source of revenue for the Nation long-term on the property. It’ll be nice to have a long-term presence on our traditional territory in Whistler.”
Function Junction is one of many exciting projects in the works for Lil’wat Nation, Stager said. “We are in negotiations on new projects and in the planning stages for others,” she said. “We have a number of parcels of land in Whistler and Pemberton. We are contemplating appropriate development.”
A major mixed-use development in Mount Currie—at the intersection of Highway 99 and Pemberton Portage Road—is also in the works. In that case, the Nation aims to build 53 affordable housing units and six commercial spaces in two separate buildings on Mount Currie’s Main Street.
