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Future of Callaghan uncertain as rezoning moves forward

Regional district holds public hearing for Whistler Nordic Centre

While much is still unknown about the future of the Callaghan Valley, the rezoning bylaws hold a promise of what's to come.

The bylaws, which pertain to 262 hectares in the Callaghan for the Whistler Nordic Centre, will permit a cross-country stadium and trails, a shooting range for biathlon, ski jumps and a ski jump lift operation – all of which are needed to host the 2010 Olympics.

The bylaws also allow for other recreational facilities, such as a tubing park and lift, an outdoor skating rink, hut-to-hut ski touring, hiking facilities, a 100-room lodge and a 100-space RV and campsite. These amenities would all go within the so-called "competition footprint."

But they will not go ahead until a plan for the whole valley has been complete.

In order to meet the tight timeframe for the Olympics, the regional district is moving ahead in the rezoning process for the Olympic venue in the absence of that plan.

On Monday the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District will hold a public hearing on the proposed bylaws for the Whistler Nordic Centre.

"The list of uses in the (Nordic Centre) zone are what VANOC (the Vancouver Organizing Committee) anticipates emerging based on their original business plan," explained Susan Stratis, planning consultant with the SLRD. "They haven't finished their business plan. They're still in the process of refining it, partly in discussions with First Nations.

"So right now we're including a list of uses that we think could emerge. They may not all develop."

For Brad Sills, a longstanding commercial operator in the valley, the rezoning in light of all those unknowns, is cause for concern.

Sills operates Callaghan Country, a cross-country skiing operation which crosses paths with the competition footprint land.

"At this point the Games venue is displacing three of the four (commercial operators) considerably," said Sills. "Three of the four operators will have significant changes to their operations and do not have the guarantees that replacement opportunity will be sufficient.

"I think the issue of long-term tenures and commercial interests and people who backed the bid right from the start, their interests are being usurped at this time. Those questions have to be answered before the rezoning is passed."

But it's not only the interests of the commercial tenure holders he's worried about. There are broader uncertainties he said.

For example, VANOC, the developer, has not finalized the design, location and operation of the water and sewer infrastructure. This has Sills worried about the amount of leniency that's being granted for this developer.

"I think generally speaking, Whistler would never allow as much room for interpretation on such a major project as this for anyone other than VANOC," he said.

Doug Washer, owner/operator of Canadian Snowmobile Adventures, which also has tenure on the same site as the Nordic Centre, said there has been positive ongoing dialogue with VANOC to address the issue with his company.

"(The Nordic site is) the main thoroughfare… for two different key zones that we operate in," explained Washer. "So the dialogue that we have had has looked at: how do we circumvent, how do we navigate through, how do we continue to overlap in this area without significant impact to one another, what are the advantages of having each other there, etc.?"

One of the difficulties he said is that because of the size and scope of the project, things keep changing as new information comes to light.

"The goal posts, from our planning perspective, move from time to time and it does make it a little bit challenging to come up with any concrete foreseeable plan that we're going to be able to stick by," said Washer.

"(There) are a lot of questions that really need to be nailed down so we can have a better understanding of what our role will unfold and what it will look like in that valley in the end."

Still, unlike Sills, Washer said those questions don't need to be answered before the Whistler Nordic Centre rezoning moves forward.

VANOC spokesperson Maureen Douglas recognizes the concerns about the uncertain future of the Callaghan. Indeed, at two recent public open houses about the Nordic Centre rezoning, most of the questions she fielded had to do with the legacies and recreational amenities in the valley.

"People are really excited about the legacy and so we were there to reassure them we're looking at the long-term health and welfare and benefit of these recreational trails for everyone and want them to be done right," she said. "That's why we're taking some extra time later into the spring to deal with that. But we also need to get building on the Olympic stuff."

VANOC is hoping to begin construction by the summer time.

As the regional district moves forward with the rezoning bylaws, they are also amending Area D's Official Community Plan to give the SLRD more tools to manage future development in the entire Callaghan Valley.

If approved, the regional district will be able to regulate any development in the Callaghan through development permit guidelines.

"The intent of the development permit guidelines is if future commercial uses are approved on Crown land, the regional district will have a tool available to more closely regulate them," said Stratis.

"It (is) meant to be a higher degree of regulation than currently exists, rather than promoting commercial use."

It would not apply to development within the Callaghan Provincial Park, which is strictly provincial jurisdiction.

The public hearing for the bylaws will be held on Monday, April 18 at 7 p.m. in the Fir Room at the Spruce Grove Field House.