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Squamish administrator resigns from post

Citing personal reasons, long-serving chief administrative officer (CAO) Kim Anema resigned from his position on Tuesday, leaving the District of Squamish after 20 years.

Citing personal reasons, long-serving chief administrative officer (CAO) Kim Anema resigned from his position on Tuesday, leaving the District of Squamish after 20 years.

Anema acknowledged his predecessors, as well as the importance of the DOS relationships with Squamish Nation. "Accordingly, from the knowledge shared by these individuals, I have strived to strike a principle centred balance between time honoured values in the context of the modern world."

Immediately following Anema's resignation, the DOS appointed Robin Arthurs, the director of administrative services, as Acting CAO effective immediately, until a replacement can be found.

The resignation did not come up at the evening's general council meeting.

Developments push ahead in Squamish

It was a busy meeting for Squamish Councillors on the development front, ranging from first and second reading for a new RV park to third readings on major residential projects.

One of the first items on the agenda was the approval of a recommendation to refer the Squamish Riverstones affordable housing project to staff to speed up the application project and qualify for funding through B.C. Housing and the federal stimulus package.

When complete the project will include 84 one- and two-bedroom units in five buildings, with a rent cap of $915 a month for a two-bedroom, and 48 units of dedicated seniors housing where rent is based on income. The project is slated for Government Road, near the Yekwaupsum Indian Reserve.

Following that council voted unanimously to obtain comments from local groups interested in building a covered pavilion on Cleveland Avenue that would be used for performances and other local events. At this stage only the Downtown Squamish Business Improvement Association, Squamish Arts Council, Squamish Nation and other groups connected to the arts and music scene are being invited to comment, but it will be opened up to the public once the Request For Proposals has been answered and there are drawings to review.

Funding from the proposed O'Siem Community Pavilion, comes from a joint provincial and federal Towns for Tomorrow grant of $375,000, a large portion of the nearly $1 million that Squamish will receive from federal and provincial stimulus packages. The building would use local second-growth timber and beetle-killed wood.

"It would be a shelter for community gatherings and artists, and it's our view that it would have a strong Coast Salish design to it," said Mayor Greg Gardner.

A proposed 70-stall RV park on the southeast corner of Scott Crescent and Highway 99, just south of Cleveland Avenue, also got a lot of attention. This was the second time that the Redpoint project has come before council, after it was sent back over concerns about landscaping and fencing.

The new proposal would include a four-foot black chain link fence with trees planted on either side, as well as a fence separating the children's play area from the rest of the park.

Although councillors were satisfied with the aesthetic changes there was concern over the zoning and covenant on the property.

The property is zoned for tourist commercial, which allows for an RV park, but DOS staff are attaching a covenant to the land that would limit stays to 30 days every six months. The same conditions could also be written into the business licence, while a bylaw would also apply to any future RV parks to come after the Redpoint development.

However, in the run-up to the 2010 Games Redpoint has shown an interest in allowing 90-day stays through the Games, which council was agreeable to although Councillor Corinne Lonsdale was hesitant to approve anything until an official bylaw was in place out of concern that the proponents of the park would try to grandfather the park to allow full time stays. She also asked for a change in the wording of the application that would expressly limit the number of caretaker stalls to two.

"What I'm hearing is that after April 2010 we will totally rely on the goodwill of the developer to adhere to a 30-day term... and if we didn't want them to we would have to resort to legal," she said.

DOS planning director Cameron Chalmers assured her that the covenant was legally binding without the bylaw, and that he would ask staff about making the conditions part of the business licence as well.

One other RV park with the same zoning would also be invited to apply for the 90-day extension to ensure fairness. Councillor Doug Race commented that while the 30-day period was most appropriate he recognized that the "Olympics are a once in a lifetime opportunity."

The motion passed unanimously to back staff recommendations and move the project forward into development.

Council also gave first and second reading to an application by the owners at 37738 Third Avenue to build a new three-storey light industrial structure on the land that would include two residential units, office space, and space for the current tenants at Alta Vista Electric. The owner and Alta Vista also plan to use the new building to showcase solar technology and other green building features.

Councillor Patricia Heintzman said the building design was well received by the Advisory Design Panel. "They've done an exemplary job of renovating and introducing green building practice and innovation, we were really pleased to see it," she said.

Council voted unanimously to send the project to a third reading.

The next two applications weren't as warmly received.

An application to rezone a lot from greenways to residential put forward by Garibaldi Spring Developments passed third reading, but Patricia Heintzman opposed on the grounds that there was no hurry.

"I don't see an imperative to rezone now, I think greenway is a good designation for the land at this point," she said. "In the future if we need to infill there we can change it, but I don't see the imperative to do this today."

Councillor Paul Lalli noted his support of the application, pointing to the $500,000 in contributions to community amenities by the developer as a benefit. He also noted that it was disturbed land. "I think the benefits outweigh the negatives for the community."

Doug Race noted that the rezoning was also consistent with the Official Community Plan, and is close to existing infrastructure.

Heintzman acknowledged the value of the amenity, "but there's a larger debate how we develop proposals, (our decisions should not be) based on the amenity packaged but on the OCP."

She was the lone dissenter as the rezoning application moved through third reading.

The next item on the docket was not as well received after the developer increased the density of what's known as the "Sky Development" project on the southwest corner of Main Street and Fourth Avenue. Specifically the developer petitioned to replace 16 townhouse units approved in first and second reading with 56 apartment units.

The developer said that change was due to market conditions, and the low response to townhouse units.

The motion to move forward with third reading was defeated.

"One of the things that the last council dealt with was this development and the original concept as I approved it back then would be slightly lower density with townhomes around the perimeter and higher density in the centre," said Heintzman. "I can't see rezoning it to higher density at this point. If we react to market demands here and there every sixth months when the developer comes back to us for a rejigging of the zoning bylaws I can't see that as a good thing.

"Also, in the future we're going to have a glut of these condos on the market, and there may not be demand for it."

Lonsdale noted that the lands were next to the estuary, and said it was not in the best interest of the community to increase density in that area.

The motion not to give the application a third reading passed with Lalli, Gardner and Rob Kirkham voting against.

Sidewalk bylaw gets another kick at the can

Council voted unanimously to give first three reading to amend the existing Sidewalk Café Encroachment Bylaw in accordance with provincial standards to encourage more restaurants to apply for exemptions that would allow them to create outdoor patios.

"It's a great way to enliven our streets and a lot of towns do this," commented Heintzman.

Councillor Doug Race was curious to find out why the public liability insurance was lowered to $2 million from $5 million, but supported the project.

Councillor Lonsdale noted that the existing bylaw has been on the books for years with little interest.

"When it was first implemented it was taken up by three businesses in town, one on Second (Ave) and a couple on Cleveland but it didn't seem to catch on," she said. "I really hope this time it does, and I hope we do get ourselves that vibrant Cleveland Avenue sidewalk that we would really appreciate and enjoy."

Business association goes online

The Downtown Squamish Business Improvement Association launched an official website this week at www.downtownsquamish.com, hoping to generate interest in downtown by new businesses and to showcase existing businesses.

The DSBIA also noted the installation of new artist-designed bike racks in the downtown area, using funds from Trinity Romance Shop's annual James Bondage Fundraiser. Local artist Cellaigh Pryce created the Geves rack and Nycki Samuels created the bike series with racks based on classic bikes and unicycles.

Trail Master Plan to avoid trail conflicts

Squamish Council moved forward on their plan to create a trail master plan for the district at Tuesday's council meeting, voting unanimously to refer the Trail Standards Guide to staff to create a final document to guide the process.

Councillor Bryan Raiser, who organizes the Beyond the Valleycliffe of the Dolls freeride bike events, explained that the master plan will not change the character of trails or mountain biking.

"As you know, I do enjoy the challenging trails," he said. "This master plan I don't believe will change that. What it will do - or it is my hope - is that it will finally lay out our land, which is being divvied up by many, many outside as well as inside interests.

"This plan will look at everything from bike lanes to suggesting what trail users should use what areas. There are many issues but a very big one in my mind is the huge insurgence of dirt bikes on Diamond Head trails. There is simply no signage and no one knows where they should be going, so they go anywhere and usually end up conflicting with non-motorized users."

The planning process will include all stakeholders and user groups, and will involve the public, he added. Adopting trail standards will more likely mean signage than closing more difficult trails.