There was little new information and much consternation at the first public information meeting on the proposed debris flow barrier and Cheekye Fan development, held at the Brackendale Art Gallery (BAG) Nov. 24.
About 60 interested residents packed the gallery to hear from representatives from the District of Squamish, the Squamish Nation and development partner BMS Cheekeye One Projects Limited Partnership.
Matthias Jakob, from the engineering firm BGC Engineering, which was hired by Squamish Nation officials, told the crowd what council was told back in July – that a potential landslide from the Mount Garibaldi area with enough debris to fill B.C. Place twice poses an unacceptable threat to people living and working in Cheekye Fan.
The engineering firm has drafted a design of a debris flow barrier to safeguard the community that would be one of the largest of its type in Canada, Jakob said.
The barrier was designed on the premise that the proposed 750-unit Cheekye Fan development, slated for next to Ross and Government roads, goes ahead.
Councillor-elect Peter Kent asked how much the proposed barrier would cost and was told by Jakob that costing has yet to be figured out.
Longtime Brackendale resident Rachel Shephard said she didn’t think the two things – the barrier and the potential Cheekye development – should be linked together.
“Divide the two things,” she said, which got one the biggest rounds of applause of the night from the crowd.
Shephard also asked why the Squamish Nation and the district would be footing the bill for the debris barrier when Jakob’s presentation showed the risk was also to Highway 99 and could cut off Whistler. She asked why the province wouldn’t be responsible for the work.
Representatives from the district said who should pay and how much are things that would be looked at down the road.
Shephard told The Squamish Chief she feared the Squamish Nation was being pushed into a big development to pay for the barrier to protect its people.
She said if the barrier needs to be built, then that is a separate issue. “Don’t hold the development out as a carrot.”
Squamish Nation council member Joshua Joseph said he would take back all he heard at the meeting to the Squamish Nation.
Other speakers were upset specifically with the potential housing development.
Edith Tobe, a Brackendale resident and environmental consultant, said the district should approve smaller projects that fit within its Official Community Plan.
The Squamish Nation and Cheekye River Developments Ltd. applied to the district for rezoning and an amendment to the OCP.
Brackendale resident Shannon Fieldhouse was emotional over the potential development.
“A development of this magnitude changes the entire nature of Brackendale. People have moved to Brackendale and chosen to live here because it has a more rural feel that you can’t get anywhere else in Squamish – or anywhere – and adding 750 high density homes into a community such as we have will irrevocably change the feel of Brackendale, it will impact traffic, it will impact trail use and other public areas,” she said.
Brackendale elementary teacher and resident Jane Murgatroyd was equally upset at the prospect of the development. If it gets built, she said she will consider moving.
The representatives from the district and the developer said that the proposal is in very early stages and there is plenty of time and opportunity for input from the public. If it were to go ahead, the entire development wouldn’t be complete for at least 20 years.
Another information meeting will likely be planned for the new year, district staff said.
District director of engineering Rod MacLeod said the application process has “many many months of work left to go.”
