A plan for a rural housing development, which has been in the works since 2008 in the Upper Paradise Valley, has been shelved after the land was rezoned by the Squamish council.
The proposed Paradise Trails at Squamish, spearheaded by Vancouver-based developer Michael Goodman, included 82 single-family homes—each 4,000 to 5,500 square feet in size—and amenities, including a North Squamish Volunteer Fire Brigade Society to protect the development and Paradise Valley, an equestrian centre and 6.8 kilometres of public horse-riding trails.
The property, which does not have an official address, is along the Cheakamus River.
The developer calls it a plan for an "eco" community with passive houses and many other environmentally friendly features.
The 65-hectare (160-acre) property was rezoned at the council's regular meeting on June 18.
This rezoning means that the Paradise Trails project will no longer be allowed on the property.
On June 18, the council unanimously passed three readings and adopted an amendment to the Zoning Bylaw to rezone the property from Comprehensive Development Zone No. 52 (CD-52) to Resource (RE).
The goal for the rezoning, according to District staff, was to align the property with goals set out in the Official Community Plan.
According to District staff, the developer could, technically, reapply for an official community plan amendment and a rezoning if they wish to continue with the development.
However, a spokesperson for the project told The Squamish Chief that they do not plan to reapply and are considering the next steps.
“There were 18 community benefits associated with the development, including a wildfire fighting service on First Nations land. There is currently no wildfire fighting service in that area,” said Goodman, in the emailed statement.
Brief history
There is a complex and sometimes contentious long history between the property, those behind the development and the municipality.
The parcel was rezoned in 2008 to allow for an equestrian centre and 82 rural residential lots.
The recent staff report to council notes that "at the time of the rezoning, the applicants were required to construct a dike to protect the property from flood hazard, given that a large portion of the property is located in the primary floodway of the Cheakamus."
District planner Bryan Daly, told council that the provincial government no longer allows private diking structures; thus, the District would need to take on diking to protect the project.
The District's David Roulston noted that a 2017 study showed the area, including Paradise Trails' property, was at great risk of flood.
Thus, the District determined to avoid adding more housing developments in the region and to not build further diking there due to the extensive cost of construction and ongoing maintenance.
The developer recently commissioned a new report that says there is less risk compared to the earlier report done at the time of the original rezoning. District staff said that the second report was not of the professional level of the first.
Paradise Valley Trails disputes this and argues its report was peer-reviewed by experts, the same ones who evaluated the Cheakamus River for the regional district and are "well-known hydrologists."
Ultimately, the staff report to council says there had not been a formal Development Permit application that staff can process.
Fire protection?
One of the selling points of the project was its desire to create a fire brigade in the valley, an area that is outside the Squamish Fire Rescue jurisdiction and has seen wildfires.
However, Daly said at council that they put the proposal to the Squamish Fire Department and got the following responses:
"The Office of the Fire Commissioner does not permit fire brigades to be formed as a half measure. A fire department has to be fully certified under the provincial standards and have the authority to do so within a local government or fire protection district," Daly read to council, adding that the municipality has a collective agreement with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) for staffing, and so adding a separate fire department within the District of Squamish could be viewed as contracting out of services.
"A fire hall price tag would be in the neighbourhood of 14 to $16 million as the ground is similar to the Tantalus site, but more at risk of catastrophic flooding. Squamish Fire Rescue does not have plans to establish a fire hall in this area."
Daly continued that Paradise Valley does not have a sufficient population to support a fire hall.
"Fire apparatuses are in the range of 1.4 to $1.7 million each for a new fire engine, and take roughly three years to build due to a backlog from COVID and currently Paradise Valley does not have a municipal water system in place, and thus does not have a hydrant system for firefighting, water supply."
Again, those behind Paradise Trails dispute this, arguing that they were not given the chance to "prove we can get it done."
Rationale for rezoning support
In voting in favour of the rezoning, Coun. Andrew Hamilton said it was a difficult issue to navigate.
"I have spoken to the developers at length," he said.
"This is a situation where there was something that may have seemed appropriate over a decade ago in the intervening decade. We learned more about flood hazard... Our official community plan has changed, and our community has focused on a growth management boundary."
Coun. John French, in voicing his support for rezoning, said he felt badly for the landowner, but that it was time "to rip the Band-Aid off."
"In the current affordability crisis, inside our climate change reality, this is not the time to build estate homes well outside of our growth management boundary. The risks of moving this proposal forward are just too high, in my opinion, for our community," he said.
The development spokesperson said in an email to The Squamish Chief that there are "many people who are much more suited to living rurally, who want to live closer to nature, with the animals, away from urban density, and are happier that way."
Paradise Trails also argues that this council decision flies in the face of new provincial legislation, namely Bill 44, which encourages the building of housing.
Watch the full meeting and see the staff report on the District's website.
