When the economic crisis struck, Squamish's construction industry came to a grinding halt according to the district's 2008 Building Development Report.
In the first half of 2008, construction values and fees were tracking at 50 per cent more than the previous year. In November, the economy failed and Mick Gottardi, director of community development, noticed a major change.
"We noticed a very significant change in behaviour out there and we have to take that into account as we move forward," Gottardi said during the committee of whole meeting Tuesday (Jan. 27).
The district ended 2008 with about $49,518,697 in construction values. If the construction boom continued though, Squamish would have seen double that in construction values. Still the fees are proportional to about $60,900,574 in 2007.
"As far as looking forward to 2009, council knows the economic climate is very different and we have to be cautious in projecting revenues in our 2009 budget requests," Gottardi said.
The building report was part of an orientation of the Community Development department for council. With the downswing in economy, Gottardi said staff will have time for housekeeping projects such as pursuing a green building initiative and reconciliation of secondary suites.
"There is much that can be done with the current building code to bring in more green building initiatives," Gottardi said.
Gottardi mentioned changing the building code to require water conserving fixtures, environmentally friendly insulation and changes in plumbing. He said Squamish is still lagging behind when it comes to green building.
"We need to bring a discussion paper before council in terms of how we could be more proactive on the issue of green building. I know many builders aspire to be green but very few deliver," Gottardi said.
As the district moves forward with green building initiatives, Gottardi insists the district needs to set realistic standards given the current economic climate.
Reconciliation of secondary suites
The district currently uses a secondary suite provision, which is accounted into development cost charges during construction. The problem is the district doesn't have many suites in the community on the books.
"We are constantly reminded of secondary suites in the community that are not permitted. It is difficult for us to enforce those regulations unless those suites cause a disturbance," Gottardi said. "We have not taken a proactive approach."
Coun. Corinne Lonsdale disagreed stating that the previous council did a lot of work with the community on the issue of secondary suites. She said the community said secondary suites are acceptable in all zones so the policy followed suite. The district does not look into secondary suites unless they represent life and safety issues.
"Unless these suites were causing a problem, we were not interested in enforcement," Lonsdale said. "We are always trying to provide affordable housing and secondary suites fit that bill."
Council agreed to work with the Community Development department on the issue of secondary suites in the near future.
Planning annual report
Cameron Chalmers, director of planning, presented the 2008 Planning Department Annual Report and acknowledged that the last year was very dramatic.
He said global economic downturns and the resulting lending crisis resulted in development slowing considerably mid-year. These changing times will allow the Planning Department to shift the workload to a focus on developing and implementing policies Chalmers said.
"We want to steer our skill sets in the direction of good policy development so when the money flows again, we will be in a much better position to deal with development projects," Chalmers said.
Chalmers said the planning department is working on many crucial policies, that once complete, will help guide the future of Squamish. These policies include the Official Community Plan, the Oceanfront Planning Process and Downtown Neighbourhood Plan.
"Though development slowed in mid-2008, since 2005 Squamish has seen a drastic increase in the amount of development, both residential and commercial," Chalmers said.
The annual report is available on the District of Squamish website at www.squamish.ca.
