District of Squamish council has decided to remain quiet about Garibaldi at Squamish - at least for now - and the decision has created a rift among its members.
During the Tuesday (Sept. 8) council meeting, Coun. Corinne Lonsdale out forward a motion to once again request that the clock be stopped on the provincial environmental assessment process until answers are provided around water access, sewage, urban sprawl and other social-economic impacts.
The vote marks a departure from a 2007 council decision to unanimously call for a halt to the environmental process after staff expressed concerns over the viability of the project and possible negative social impacts, such as a criminal element, on Squamish.
Lonsdale said despite the public consultations, there is still no concrete information available to the public or to the council to even formulate a proper response.
"The seven of us have been getting emails and letters for months and months and many of them are asking us to take a position, but I don't have the information to take a position," she said.
She said there should be a time period of at least three months to get information on the exact number of bed units, how big the residential lots will be, how much water would be needed, etc.
"We would like to have a better idea of how the whole development is going to play out," she said.
Voting down the motion along with councillors Paul Lalli, Doug Race and Rob Kirkham, Mayor Greg Gardner said he didn't think the motion is "in the best interests of the community."
"Whether there is adequate information, the provincial government has to make a decision, but I would have to rely on the provincial process," he said.
Race said his opposition to the motion should not be taken as an endorsement for the project.
"The GAS proposal represents the largest land use decision to come before this municipality. It requires a co-ordinated council strategy, not a series of one-off reactions," he said.
Council received a letter from the CEO of GAS, David Negrin, urging the members to reject Lonsdale's motion.
The public has been able to comment on this issue several times, and council should not delay the environmental assessment any further, Negrin wrote.
"There have now been three public comment periods where the community has formally provided feedback. The provincial government has received this information and is now ready to make a decision," he wrote.
In her motion, Lonsdale cited a June presentation to the council by famed city planner Larry Beasley and GAS president Mike Esler. She said Beasley had admitted in that meeting that his presentation on GAS lacked depth and detail.
However, Negrin wrote that the meeting was meant to be just an overview, and there wasn't enough time to go into more detail. The information about the project, however, is freely available to anyone who wants to see it, he wrote.
He argued the environmental assessment should be allowed to go forward since the district will have full authority to suspend the local planning process, although he does not specify how this authority would fall to the district.
The controversial project aims to build 22,846 bed units in the GAS project on Brohm Ridge. It will have 124 ski runs over 1,850 hectares with a capacity for 15,200 skiers.
Environmentalists have voiced concerns about the resort's effects on the fish habitat of Brohm Lake from where the water is supposed to be extracted and Cheekye River, where water effluents would be released.
The proponents say it will stimulate the local economy and create 13,000 jobs.
In July, Esler said he anticipated a conditional environmental assessment certificate to be in place this month, then comes a conditional master plan approval to be followed by a master development agreement through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts (MOTCA).
