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Neighbourhood made possible by tax transfer

Resort Collaborative gathers to discuss next steps in funding, growing tourism
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Mayor Ken Melamed knows only too well that the beautiful new neighbourhood at Cheakamus Crossing almost never came to pass.

Whistler, which had been charged with building the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic athletes' village, simply couldn't find the money for the $161 million development. A temporary village seemed in the cards.

But after the province approved new "financial tools" for B.C. resorts in 2007, money that Whistler could use for employee housing, a neighbourhood suddenly became a possibility.

And now, three years later, it's a reality.

"Every time I come (here) it takes my breath away," said Melamed at Sunday's busy Cheakamus Crossing open house, where the community had its first, and last, glimpse of the athletes' village-cum-local neighbourhood before the 2010 Games.

"This surpassed my ability to imagine what it might look like."

Last week 12 of the 13 resort communities who were given the new monies, called the Resort Municipality Tax Transfer Program, met in Whistler to discuss their common ground.

They are called the Resort Collaborative.

And they are getting roughly $10 million every year to spend on tourism-related development such as infrastructure, amenities and services. That amounts to tens of millions of dollars pumped into B.C. resorts by 2011, an initiative that goes a long way in meeting Premier Gordon Campbell's goal of doubling tourism by 2015.

The two-day conference in Whistler was a chance to not only discuss how these resort communities will create a common reporting system on how they are spending their money, but also to share their experiences as unique resort communities and the challenges, and benefits, that poses.

"There is strength in the collective voice, in the collaborative," said Mayor Melamed.

"We don't see ourselves in competition with B.C. resorts. We see ourselves in collaboration."

Some of those common issues are things that Whistler tackled years ago, like affordable housing. As such, it has a wealth of knowledge to share.

"Part of the opportunity for us isn't just the funding but it's the opportunity to discuss things with other communities who have similar issues and to share some of that," said Deanne Steven, CEO for Tourism Rossland.

While the money, the long-sought-after financial tools that Whistler lobbied for years to get, is extremely important, there is a power in the collective voice. The collaborative is a way for resorts to channel expertise, identify issues, and perhaps, lobby for things in their interest.

"I think people are starting to see the benefits other than the money," said Bill Barratt, the Resort Municipality of Whistler's chief administrative officer.

Don't mistake him though. The funding, which began for some in 2007, is a huge bonus.

In Harrison Hot Springs, for example, the money has been used to revamp the village's beachfront and plaza.

In the City of Rossland, the money is going into a signage program so that visitors can better find their way around town.

Golden is developing a unique central town square, among other things, that will refocus the downtown core to celebrate the oft-overlooked Kicking Horse River.

"Like Whistler, we're totally under construction as we speak, from this money," said Golden's CAO Phil Taylor who said the town is getting $2.25 million over the first five years of the program.

And in Whistler, which receives the lion's share of the transfer tax (4 per cent of the hotel tax), the money has gone far and wide. It amounts to about $37 million over five years.

A few projects benefiting from the revenue sharing are:

• $8.3 million for the Cheakamus Crossing neighbourhood;

• $4.2 million for the Whistler Celebration Plaza;

• $650,000 for the new gymnasium facility at the athletes' village;

• $100,000 for the Whistler Arts Council and

• $50,000 for the Whistler Film Festival.

"Those things all drive room nights or support business indirectly," said Barratt.

"(The money has allowed resort communities) to do projects that relate to tourism... that they probably wouldn't do without it."

The money, which comes from the provincial hotel room tax, once flowed from the resort communities to the provincial general revenue stream to be spent where Victoria saw fit.

Now, it is transferred to the 13 resort communities.

Because it is based on hotel occupancy and rates, the transfer is larger if the resort is busier and people are paying more for hotel rooms.

The province is now looking for a streamlined reporting framework, explained Assistant Deputy Minister Tom Jensen with the Ministry of Community and Rural Development, to measure the success of the program.

"We'll be taking a look at the results of the program and then determining how to carry on," he said from his Victoria office this week.

"So far it's looking very positive and the impacts are looking very positive for communities and, of course, tourism is a very important part of the government's economic strategy going forward. If this helps, that's great."

The RMOW has contracted the services of the Whistler Centre for Sustainability to help develop the reporting framework for the Resort Collaborative, at a cost of $12,000.

For Whistler's mayor, however, standing in the heart of the athletes' village and listening to the excited chatter of more than 500 citizens including the new homeowners, the success of the program is right here on the ground.

He said: "For me, we've been saying this is the number one legacy of the Games, and now people can believe it."