BCAL's standard application process includes an advertisement outlining each proposal – similar to the advertisements that are part of municipal re-zoning proposals. Each ad invites members of the public with an interest in the application to contact BCAL with written comments or to arrange to view the complete, detailed application.
Several applications were advertised in this manner last summer, and are now well along in the application process. They have been reviewed by several public agencies with respect to environmental concerns and prior land-use plans decisions. The decisions will be made public in a media release and on the Web at the time the applicants are notified.
BCAL also accepted almost three dozen additional applications last fall prior to the Dec. 29 end of the "grace period" for existing commercial recreation operators. These applications will be advertised in March in four different weekly newspapers in Whistler and Squamish. These ads will invite the public to view additional information (on the Web and in local public offices), or to submit written comments to BCAL within 30 days. All of these comments will be reviewed before any decisions are made.
In addition to these efforts to invite comments from the general public, BCAL is also consulting directly with organized user-groups, with the municipal governments elected by local residents and with local first nations in the Sea to Sky corridor.
Charles Littledale
Regional Manager
BC Assets and Land Corporation
