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Council briefs

Redevelopment plans for Boot Pub site include market townhomes, employee units

Preliminary plans for redevelopment of the Boot Pub/Shoestring Lodge’s six-acre site include the development of a number of market and employee housing units.

Vancouver-based development company Cressey, the same company that build the Westin Resort & Spa in Whistler, is planning to build 40 market townhomes on the land across Highway 99 from Nesters.

A further 56 units of employee housing, totalling more than 230 employee beds, is also proposed for the site.

The plans also include 8,000 square feet of commercial space, which will house a cold beer and wine store, among other things.

In a letter to council president of the company Scott Cressey said he was frustrated with the rezoning process to date.

"We submitted our application into the municipality in early December of 2003. Perhaps we were optimistic, but we hoped to actually be able to construct resident housing units in time for the winter of 2004/2005," he wrote.

"To date we have had very little response or feedback to our application despite our continuous inquiry."

Bob MacPherson, general manager of planning and development services, explained to council that though staff has work-shopped the application, there is still one major issue with the development proposal and a few smaller issues.

"This kind of timeline is not out of the ordinary," explained MacPherson.

David Evans, development manager with Cressey, said the main concern about developing that site is flood protection.

This is currently under review, he said.

Both the developers and municipal staff met this week.

WAVE service expanded

A new bus service running during the summer months will make Rainbow Park more accessible for residents and guests alike.

The new service will run every 30 minutes from June 26 to Sept. 6.

There will be two buses operating a one-hour loop that will leave from the village to Alpine Meadows, along Alta Lake Road to Rainbow Park and continue along Alta Lake Road past Tamarisk, eventually stopping in Whistler Creek.

The bus will then turn around and do a reverse loop.

During peak periods on sunny days the service may increase to every 15 minutes.

Whistler Transit and the RMOW will locate bus stops on the southbound direction along Alta Lake Road.

The service will be assessed in August.

Options explored for taking recycling/garbage via bus

Council has asked the Transit Management Committee to explore ways to transport garbage and recycling on the public bus system.

The move came at the request of Councillor Nick Davies who said he had just been made aware that garbage and recycling was not allowed on the WAVE system.

Brian Barnett, general manager of engineering and public works, explained that the municipality has examined this problem in the past.

"It remains one of the issues with the compactor system we have," said Barnett.

Whistler has two main garbage/recycling sites where residents can drop off their waste. The sites are at Nesters and Function Junction.

This makes it difficult for people without access to cars to get rid of their garbage.

Davies asked staff to take another look at the issue.

Within the next year staff will examine ways that residents can move "reasonable amounts" of garbage and recycling on the bus.

Zipline proposal gets provincial nod of approval

Cougar Mountain has been officially offered tenure for a commercial zipline activity at their existing operations.

Ziplining is an activity which transports guests across large cables suspended high above the ground.

The tenure offer has some conditions attached to it and owner Eric Sinclair said they still have a few more hoops to go through before everything is finalized.

The project, as currently proposed, includes five long ziplines, which are attached to rocks.

There will also be a short training zipline.

Sinclair said the company looked at what the market is currently demanding and decided to focus its growth on eco-based experiences.

The company plans to phase out its ATV use over time.

Though there is still a lot of work to do before the zipline facility is up and running, Sinclair said it’s possible it could be open at the end of the summer.

They propose to operate the activity year-round, seven days a week.