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Pemberton signs regional transit MOU

Council briefs: Bylaw update; Information Data Portal
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Signed Pemberton council provided direction on a memorandum of understanding for the administration of a regional transit system for the Sea to Sky corridor at its June 12 council meeting. photo by joel barde

At its Tuesday, June 12 regular council meeting, Village of Pemberton (VOP) council authorized Mayor Mike Richman to sign on to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on regional transit.

"The Sea-to-Sky Corridor Regional Transit Study indicates there is desire and market demand for more transit options along the Sea-to-Sky Corridor for employees starting their commutes in Mt. Currie, Pemberton, Whistler, Black Tusk/Pinecrest, Squamish, Britannia Beach, Furry Creek and Lions Bay and travelling to work sites primarily in Whistler, Squamish and Metro Vancouver," the document reads.

An agreement between the Village, Lil'wat Nation, and the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), the MOU provides a number of principles for the parties to work towards, such as an equitable funding model for the system that will maximize the sustainability of the service, fair distribution of costs among all benefiting parties, and support for a simple customer experience.

VOP Chief Administrative Officer Nikki Gilmore explained that the BC Transit Sea-to-Sky Corridor Regional Transit Study was completed and released in October 2017, and since then Pemberton and other stakeholders have had discussions with the province about the need for improved regional transit, from Mount Currie all the way to Vancouver.

The MOU suggests that levels of service should start with what was set out in the 2017 study.

These include six round-trips per day on the Mount Currie/Pemberton to Whistler route (two more than current operations), and six round-trips per weekday plus four round-trips per weekend day between Whistler, Squamish and Metro Vancouver.

Richman said the MOU is an important document of accord and will help facilitate discussions with the province.

"Another big topic as far as I am concerned is we want to be able to understand where the NDP government is going with transit," he said.

Zoning bylaw update

During the meeting, council gave first and second reading to Zoning Bylaw No. 832, 2018, a draft of an updated set of bylaws.

In his presentation to council, planning consultant Cameron Chalmers explained that the goal of the update is to create a set of bylaws that are clear, concise and easily understood.

The report accompanying Chalmers and town planner Lisa Pedrini's presentations highlighted some of the "key issues" the update will address. These include parking standards, vacation/short-term nightly rentals, home-based business regulations, and airport regulations.

The draft will now be sent to various stakeholders for official input.

A public hearing on the bylaws is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26.

"Prior to June 26 people can submit emails or letters if they want to comment on the draft," said Richman.

"Those referral comments will then be brought back to a subsequent council meeting for further discussion.

"This is a draft, a lot of work has gone into the draft, but it's still a work in progress. The idea is to look to the public to see how much work we need to put into this."

Information data portal launch

The Pemberton and District Chamber of Commerce has officially launched its new information data portal.

The website provides an at-a-glance and up-do-date snapshot of the area's key metrics.

"The completion of phase one of this project was driven through the passion and determination of our incredibly talented project manager Lisa Richardson, working with long standing chamber member Custom Fit Communications," wrote Graham Turner, president of the chamber, in an emailed statement to Pique.

"I believe everyone that visits this site will learn something new about our communities in the Pemberton area; whether you're a local, an investor, a reporter, a real estate agent, a grant writer or a kid that wants to learn new things. Enjoy!"

You can check it out at the following address: www.pembertonchamber.com/charts/.