The Riverside and Edgewater campground proposals have been deemed by council as worthy of further consideration. The Edgewater proposal, adjacent to the Edgewater Inn on Green Lake, and the Riverside proposal, between the existing campground and the Nicklaus North Golf Course on land currently occupied by the Layton Bryson stables, were chosen from four responses to the municipality’s call for campground proposals. The other proposals, by Mons Property for a site on the east side of Highway 99 near the BC Rail overpass, and by Whistler Housing Corporation for a site on the east side of Alpha and Nita Lakes, were rejected. However, they could be reconsidered if the Edgewater or Riverside proposals are not successful. The proponents — Doug O’Mara and Nigel Woods of Riverside and Garrand Holdings (the Symons family) of Edgewater — have been asked to submit formal rezoning and OCP amendment applications. Their proposals were ranked slightly ahead of the Mons and Whistler Housing Corporation proposals based on eight criteria, including aesthetics, location, environmental sensitivity access and visibility. Environmental assessments of each have yet to be done and potential environmental impacts have been noted by Planning Department staff. A public information meeting on the proposals will be held Aug. 8. Planning staff have suggested that the Riverside site be primarily for recreational vehicles, while the Edgewater site focus more on tenting. The municipality calculates each camp site as one bed unit. The Riverside proposal identifies 130 sites while the Edgewater proposal identifies 100 sites. These bed units would push the municipality beyond its stated ceiling of 52,500 bed units, however campground development is one of the exceptions allowed in the Official Community Plan. The municipality has asked the developers to have the campgrounds open by next spring and to operate year round.
