Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Businesses buckle as village construction continues

Some small businesses look to municipality for compensation of lost sales

The owner of the Whistler Hemp Company is looking for some kind of compensation from the municipality for living in a village construction zone over the last three years.

The construction, particularly the ongoing and extensive renovations to the Crystal Lodge, has had a devastating impact on his business. He's not sure how much longer he'll survive.

"It's so difficult what we're going through right now," said owner Gord Johns. "I don't know how we're going to keep going."

Last year council approved the renovations to the Crystal Lodge, on the heels of renovations at the nearby Telus Conference Centre and Village Square.

The cumulative impact of those projects has been enormous, particularly for those businesses in the Timberline Lodge, which have been next to or under construction sites for nearly three years.

"It's these big players (such as Burrard International, the owners of the Crystal Lodge) getting their renos done before the Olympics at the cost of little players like us," said Johns. "There won't be any little guys left.

"We're just hanging on to the last thread here."

Business at the Whistler Hemp Company has plummeted this year. The company was down 50 per cent over the summer and has been down ever since.

Though Johns doesn't have exact figures for his losses, he estimates it's no less than $75,000.

And while there have been other contributing factors, such as the poor snow year, he attributes most of that loss to the Crystal Lodge renovations, which were supposed to be finished four months ago. He has seen a direct co-relation to scaffolding and equipment outside his shop and the loss of sales in the till.

"When they block us we'll do no sales all day," Johns said simply.

Donald Lee, executive vice president of the Crystal Lodge, said they have done their best to minimize the disruption to the neighbours.

"Some times these projects, when you get into them, there are issues arising and it does take some time to complete," he said.

"We are working as quickly as possible and as efficiently as possible."

But the Whistler Hemp Company isn't the only one in the Timberline Lodge, which is right beside the Crystal Lodge, feeling the impacts of this redevelopment. In a letter to the municipality, which was received by council on Monday night, Evolution owner Jenine Bourbonnais said the Crystal construction "has impacted my business monstrously," pointing to the noise, dust, construction debris, machinery and obstruction to the store fronts.

"The municipality approved this construction; please admit that it has some responsibility to the tax paying businesses affected by the construction."

Sharon Nosegaard, owner of Tanner's Edge, has also felt the ill effects of living in the path of a construction zone. Her business is down 40 per cent over the previous year. Her answer to the problem is to move her shop.

Tanner's Edge will be moving beside her other business, the Loft Salon, in the floor above 7-Eleven. She will be moving in June.

"Everything on this side is well established," she said, referring to the area where the Loft is located. "As far as we know there's nothing happening her over the next little while."

And yet, without a doubt, more village renovations are on the horizon as businesses revamp and prepare for the 2010 Winter Games.

Council has established a task force to look at redevelopment in the Commercial Core 1 zone, or CC1, which spans from the Tantalus Lodge on the south to Village Gate Boulevard in the north.

The task force has been charged with a number of issues, such as how village business can renovate without adding more gross floor area as well as preserving the original design and feel of the village. The task force also agrees that there must be a way to minimize the impacts of construction for visitors and facilitate the sequencing of projects.

Councillor Marianne Wade said the task force might also come up with guidelines to deal with project management.

"I think that the CC1 task force is going to come up with some solutions to the current situation," she said.

The Crystal renovations, she added, also experienced a number of problems, which were not anticipated.

"It's definitely been a harder reno than anybody anticipated and there's lessons to be learned from it," said Wade.

Village Enhancement is a topic near and dear to former councillor Dave Kirk's heart. Kirk owns SportStop in the Crystal Lodge and knows first hand the challenges the other businesses are going through.

Though it's true he got some compensation for the Crystal renovations in terms of rent relief, he does not think that makes up for the lost business.

Admittedly, the poor winter has also affected business but the construction has had its impacts too.

"It's not easy to determine, except for the fact that everybody who has been in business for a period of time, and that includes probably every tenant here, has a history and certainly can refer to previous years," he said.

Kirk said decisions made by council to give development permits in village buildings have enormous repercussions for nearby businesses. They should consider that when they consider redevelopment permits. Moreover, there should be an overall strategy to allow this to happen without such negative impacts.

"When I talk about strategy I'm talking about, how do we allow the resort experience to continue uninterrupted as much as possible and how do we allow business to continue uninterrupted as much as possible," said Kirk.

A future strategy won't help the businesses in the Timberline Lodge, which are facing uncertain times now.

Instead they are looking to the municipality for help, perhaps in the form of some tax relief.

"They're charging us full taxes, which are super high," said Johns. "They shouldn't be charging us taxes. When they approve a development, when they know it's going to impact tenants right next door to it, they should totally be giving tax relief to those tenants."

Some business owners are also investigating their legal options.

Lee would not pinpoint a finishing date for the project but he did say the end result of the Crystal and other buildings renovating in the village will help everyone in the long run.

"When the Crystal is complete, and other properties in the village, they will go a long way to enhancing the beauty of the village and the Village Stroll," he said. "I think that's in everybody's benefit."