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Whistler’s campground situation became a little clearer this week, as Greenside Properties Inc. took possession of the Whistler Campground facilities and agreed to keep the campground open to the end of July.

Whistler’s campground situation became a little clearer this week, as Greenside Properties Inc. took possession of the Whistler Campground facilities and agreed to keep the campground open to the end of July. As well, proponents of the Riverside Campground told council Tuesday they would like to proceed to a public hearing as soon as possible. David Ehrhardt said this week he will keep the whole campground open over the next 4-8 weeks, and after that various parts will be operational. Greenside took possession of the campground from Ruth Buzzard late last week. Buzzard had launched a series of law suits over the last few years to try and block the sale of the property. A B.C. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year ordered the sale to Greenside close by last week. Buzzard signed an option agreement to sell the property to Greenside in 1989. Greenside submitted a rezoning application some time ago to develop single family lots and a private school on the campground lands. Ehrhardt said this week Greenside intends to go ahead with preloading of the sites and installing services this summer. He hopes to make some lots available this fall. "We’re moving ahead as quickly as possible," he said. Ehrhardt acknowledged there have been some calls from the community to scrap the school portion of the development and provide more employee housing, but said for now Greenside will be completing the rezoning as per the existing approvals. The rezoning still needs fourth reading. "We will look at situation with the municipality as to what is appropriate," Ehrhardt said. "We have a proposal for a school (from a private firm), but we haven’t been able to deal with it until now." In a separate agreement, Greenside will give the municipality the campground administration building, for use as a youth and recreation centre on a different site, possibly at Spruce Grove Park. Trion, a Vancouver company developing a hotel in the village, has offered cash and consulting services to help renovate the building but that won’t happen until council adopts the rezoning bylaws for Trion’s hotel project. Trion’s proposal is moving ahead, but no one will predict when the bylaws might be adopted. Meanwhile, an update on the Riverside Campground proposal was received for information by council Tuesday. Nigel Woods, one of the campground proponents, told council: "This is a campground/recreational area and always will be. It’s not a stepping stone to something else. "We’d like to proceed to a public hearing as soon as possible." The Riverside proposal is on land straddling Fitzsimmons Creek, between the Mons service park and the present campground. The proposed campground includes 162 tent and RV sites. Some of the RV sites would be partially serviced with water and electrical hook-ups while others would be fully serviced, including sanitary hook-ups. Two buildings, housing employees, administration and a recreational room, are also included in the proposal. Woods said west side of the creek would be for RV and winter operation, while the east side would be for summer operations. A preliminary environmental review of the site has been done and a full environmental impact assessment is being done.