A number of current residents of the SEAandSKY waterfront development raised concerns over parking at a District of Squamish public hearing.
The hearing held on Sept.10 went for just over four hours and saw more than 30 residents share their current parking struggles within the relatively new community, located off of Highway 99 at 38011 Laurelwood Rd, and fears of it worsening with the proposed SEAandSKY South expansion.
(The project is referred to as both Waterfront Landing and its more recent branding of SEAandSKY.)
Following the public hearing, developers Kingswood Properties and Bosa Properties received third reading approval from council for official community plan and zoning bylaw amendments for Waterfront Landing (SEAandSKY) South that will add 1,062 new homes to the project, including 301 market rentals and 25 below-market rental units.
The Sub Area Plan was amended at second reading to remove references to natural gas infrastructure and to include policy language that discourages the use of natural gas in new buildings on the property.
At the public hearing, council asked for further natural gas conditions and a motion to require “registration of a no gas covenant for all uses” was added to the conditions prior to adoption for the zoning bylaw amendment.
In regards to parking, councillors voted in favour of an amendment made by staff to direct SEAandSKY on-street parking regulations to be included in the District of Squamish downtown parking study, which is currently underway.
“The rationale for this [amendment] is that a number of the concerns that we're hearing today around the two-hour parking are on District roads,” District planner Kerry Hamilton said.
“It's a problem that we have today, and it should be reviewed as part of the larger review that's happening downtown.”
Coun. Lauren Greenlaw opposed all motions.
Residents who spoke at the meeting didn’t raise any major concerns over the additional units included in the changes; the biggest concern was where everyone would be able to park.
Parking solutions included in the proposal for the amendments suggested changing on-street parking to timed two-hour periods, with the potential for paid parking to be addressed at a later date.
Parking issues
“I took about 30 photos of our block and there is almost not one single person on a Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. ... that has parked in any of the lines,” SEAandSKY resident Paul Arcus said.
“There are seven or so vehicles completely violating the footpaths and the grass knolls where the fire hydrants are. Bringing in fines for these people is not going to help the problem; they're desperate for park[ing],” he added.
“I came home from a business trip a couple of weeks ago and had to park at the hospital at 4 a.m. in the morning.”
Arcus, a shift worker, has been a resident since October 2023 and said the two-hour limited parking would only make their tough parking situation tougher.
“I think the one thing that scares us the most as residents is the two-hour parking. That's the thing that's been brought up the most,” he said.
“Residents can generate revenue for the District of Squamish by buying annual passes to park. We'd rather do that than have two hours. That's what's got us all here tonight, the fear of the two hours.”
Fellow shift worker and resident Ashley Grover said she has also had to park at the nearby hospital in the middle of the night because there was no parking available near her home.
“We are a two-car household and we're both commuters. I'm a flight attendant, so I have shift work. I come home sometimes at 2 a.m., and again, like someone said, had to park at the hospital,” she said.
“As a female, I find it a little disheartening that safety isn't considered; that I would have to walk multiple blocks, by myself, in the middle of the night, which is not sitting easy as a female walking in the dark.”
She, too, raised concerns over the two-hour on-street parking, which would not be feasible with her work hours.
“The two-hour parking I think, would affect a ton of us, and especially as shift workers that sleep during the day,” Grover said.
“I can't get up and move my car every two hours … so I really urge that you consider to not approve the two-hour parking."
Her husband Steve Grover invited the entire council over for dinner the following Tuesday evening at 8 p.m.—if they could find a parking spot to park their car in at that time.
Kama Guezalova said she chooses not to go out in the evenings, so she doesn’t lose a parking spot.
“I have asked people to pick me up because parking is so tight to come back in the evening after going mountain biking, going for a trail run, whatever it is, you can't find parking, especially evenings and weekends,” Guezalova said.
Jessica Bryce rents a room in her house to fellow hospital workers and said the lack of parking options has been a “massive issue.”
“They come on one-to-three-month contracts. As you can imagine, housing is a critical shortage for them. They come stay with me, and they have nowhere to park, and it is a massive, massive, massive issue for them,” Bryce said.
“I cannot buy parking anywhere. I cannot rent parking anywhere. So, I'd like the council to consider that it's not just people with two cars living there, it's also renters and other groups that have more than one car per household.”
Developer comments
“Our partnership with Bosa Properties to bring the south half to realization marks a significant milestone for the SEAandSKY masterplan,” Kingswood Properties president Lorne Segal said in a news release about the addition of the new units to the larger SEAandSky project.
“Our shared vision for the community responds to Squamish’s rapid growth, with a clear focus on meeting the housing and amenity needs of current and future residents, while contributing to the District’s broader goal of creating sustainable, walkable neighbourhoods.”
Construction of the first phase of SEAandSKY South is expected to begin in the fall of 2025.
The downtown parking study is expected to return to a committee of the whole meeting in December.
