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Rainbow inches forward despite commercial concerns

Councillor Wilhelm-Morden says commercial core size exorbitant

Developer Tom Rafael squared off with council after Monday’s council meeting was officially adjourned, trying to convince them of the need for a sizable commercial core in the new Rainbow subdivision.

After having debated the issue for an hour earlier council would not get drawn into a protracted debate with the developer.

"We don’t negotiate (directly) with you," said Mayor Ken Melamed firmly. "We empower our staff to negotiate with you."

Rafael was chagrined by the response.

"All of the planners, including the director of planning for the municipality, recognize that in order to have a livable functioning community at Rainbow you need a certain commercial core to give it vibrancy," he said immediately after his exchange with council.

And so while the Rainbow project passed the first hurdle in the rezoning process Monday, getting first reading of the bylaws, council has asked staff and the developer to go back to the negotiating table. The project was supposed to get first and second readings on Monday.

The issue at hand is the 23,000 square foot commercial core in the centre of the proposed subdivision. Council, on the whole, believes it’s too big and is worried about the retail uses potentially taking business away from the village.

It was the same issue that was raised by the previous council eight months ago. At that time, council told staff they were uncomfortable with the size of the commercial core. And yet, that size has not changed.

The developers maintain that having a grocery store, restaurant, post office, pharmacy and video, geared to the surrounding neighbourhoods, is based on sound planning principles and is exactly what the community said they wanted in its sustainability plan, Whistler 2020.

"If council thinks… the number is too large, that opinion is contrary not only to the planning exercises that everyone has done but contrary to the interests of those that are going to live there."

But even Rainbow’s most vocal supporter on council, Ralph Forsythe, expressed concerns about the commercial core.

"I love this deal," he said bluntly, adding that seeing it move forward on Monday night helped some members of council keep their campaign promises from November’s election.

"My enthusiasm was tempered a little bit by the size of the commercial."

The worry on council’s mind is competition with the village merchants.

"It’s exorbitant," said Councillor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden. "We don’t need another strip mall in Whistler."

Without trying to delay the project, Wilhelm-Morden proposed giving the Rainbow bylaws first reading, instead of first and second reading as proposed, and then asking for the developers to meet several conditions, chief of which was a reduction in commercial space.

"We’ve overbuilt the commercial square footage in this valley," she said the following day. "We do not need more.

"Look at all the windows that are papered over (in the village stores), look at Creekside, which is struggling. We don’t need more retail."

She thinks the commercial core of the Rainbow project should be halved in size, around 10,000 to 15,000 square feet.

Several councillors made a comparison with the Alpine Meadows store and café at the entrance to that subdivision. It’s 2,500 square feet compared to Rainbow’s 23,000 square feet.

The long-awaited Rainbow subdivision will deliver at least 220 units of employee housing, the bulk of which will be price-restricted.

That’s less than what was proposed in the original Memorandum of Understanding but after detailed site analysis and a study of the steep terrain on the site, it was the number agreed upon by both sides.

There will be 70 single family homes, 80 duplexes, 40 seniors units and some townhouses. Dotted throughout will be 35 market homes and 16 market multi-family homes, along with the commercial core.

In order for Rainbow’s business plan to work, said Rafael, they need the proposed 20,000 square feet of commercial space.

He believes they are essentially on the same page as council and concurred those commercial spaces should be restricted to local uses so that the development does not take away from the village trade, but rather complements the neighbourhood.

"We’ve tried very hard and we will continue to try to make ends meet but at some point our ability to make ends meet becomes stretched too far, too tight and we won’t succeed," he said.

He said there was some misunderstanding on the size and uses of what was proposed.

"I think that what is truly on the table, were it fully understood, would come extremely close to satisfying the requirements they set out last night," said Rafael.

"I’m also aware that the clock is running and after 14 months of hard work to find yourself in front of a council that unfortunately is not fully understanding of what’s before them, is frustrating beyond belief."

Wilhelm-Morden, however, said council understands exactly what is proposed and she believes there has to be some compromises on the side of the developer.

"What was hoped for in the Memorandum of Understanding cannot actually be accommodated physically on the site, now that it’s been scoped out… but the developer has not reduced any of the market housing, they have not reduced any of the commercial space, they’ve reduced the resident (employee housing) side of the equation," she said, the following day. "And notwithstanding all of that we’ve given first reading to Rainbow. So now it’s time for the developer to put some things on the table."

It is not clear when those negotiations will happen. Once the project is given second reading it can then move to a public hearing, where people will be given the chance to voice their support or concerns.