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Camping at Riverside re-examined

Tent camping could return to Riverside by the end of the summer. One of the campground's co-owners, Nigel Woods, asked councillors on Tuesday night to let people camp again on the 35 campsites adjacent to Fitzsimmons Creek.

Tent camping could return to Riverside by the end of the summer.

One of the campground's co-owners, Nigel Woods, asked councillors on Tuesday night to let people camp again on the 35 campsites adjacent to Fitzsimmons Creek.

"We have struggled to accommodate our loyal tenting guests," said Woods about the challenges Riverside Resort has faced since the tent sites were closed.

"We believe that decommissioning of the sites results in the quality of our product being diminished," said Woods.

The previous council decided to shut down the camping spots at Riverside Resort because they lay in a floodway. But on Tuesday, to assure councillors it is safe to camp in the area, Woods showed an official engineering study completed by Kerr Wood Leidal which states "without question that the tent sites are safe for independent use."

Woods estimated Riverside's lost revenue from not having campsites is about $1,500 a day in the summer time.

After listening to Woods's presentation, council referred the engineering study to municipal staff to get a legal opinion by their next meeting, on Tuesday, July 21.

This year marks the first summer in recent memory that there have been no official tenting campsites in Whistler. The mayor and councillors have received a rash of letters this summer complaining about the lack of tenting.

Pay parking to be discussed

Council will get a chance to re-examine its pay parking decision this month.

On Tuesday, Councillor Grant Lamont brought up three notices of motion to address community concerns regarding the recently implemented pay parking at the Telus Conference Centre underground lot. Councillors will discuss Lamont's three items at their Tuesday, July 21 meeting.

Specifically, Lamont asked the other councillors to consider turning the underground lot back into a free parking zone with the three-hour limit strictly enforced. He also suggested that the municipal hall parking lot be turned into pay parking as soon as the day skier lots 1, 2 and 3 become pay parking. And he wants council to ask municipal staff to give a public presentation on the rationale behind charging for parking.

Olympic liquor license fees set

If they want a special Olympic liquor license, businesses that already serve alcohol will have to pay somewhere between $500 and $1,500. New businesses, on the other hand, will have to pay $2,000.

Council set the Olympic license fees during Tuesday's council meeting. The reason for charging money, explained municipal planner Frank Savage, is to cover municipal staff time for processing the applications.

He added the province will also charge $1,500 for applications, and another $1,500 for approved licenses.

Whistler to join RGS dispute

Whistler council voted on Tuesday to join other municipalities within the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and find a solution to the current conflict brewing on the regional growth strategy.

At the heart of the conflict is the District of Squamish, whose council voted against the growth strategy last November.

Squamish council expressed concern that the growth limits included in the bylaw could hamper future growth within the community. Squamish councillors cited a lack of community consultation and clarity over the procedure, as well as their concerns about the amendment process.

Squamish is the biggest municipality in the regional district.

Last month, the Village of Pemberton also voted to enter the non-binding dispute resolution process for the growth strategy, which is a bylaw that aims to limit urban sprawl.