An oceanfront park, a wind sport area, a cruise ship port these were just a few components the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation (SODC) is considering for the 67 acres of peninsula oceanfront.
The SODC presented the draft proposal at a public open house that drew about 350 people to the Sea to Sky Hotel on Thursday, Oct. 29.
The tentative SODC land use plans also included an uninterrupted trail around the peninsula, a beach, several green spaces, a town square, a retail district, a marina, a performing acts centre, residential spaces, a hotel and a learning centre for a post-secondary institution, possibly Capilano University.
The development of a multi-use oceanfront space is expected to create 2,200 full time, local jobs and have a direct and indirect economic impact of approximately $7 billion dollars, said municipal planning director Cameron Chalmers.
"We can not underestimate how critical this piece of land is to the future of the community and how important it is that we do this right," said Chalmers.
Mayor Greg Gardner assured attendees the land use draft has not been finalized yet, and some degree of flexibility still exists.
"I don't want everyone to think that whatever you see today is written in stone," he said. "This is the end of the big picture planning process and if we're happy with it then we can move on to creating this."
Municipal officials and peninsula landowners, including Mamquam Ocean Development Ltd., which was represented by Westmana Development, described their vision for the oceanfront development.
The SODC presented a conceptual six phase, starting with opening the oceanfront park after the first year of development and finishing with a performing arts centre opening 20 years later.
In order to preserve the scenery of the area, SODC consultant Drew Stotesbury said they plan to keep buildings to a maximum of six or eight storeys in height, avoid closed ended streets and align the main access road to the peninsula (Cleveland Avenue) to ensure visibility of the Stawamus Chief and Shannon Falls.
"This is about connecting people to the water for the first time in many people's lives," Stotesbury said. "And in doing this, we've created a plan we think really embraces the core elements of works, learn, play and live."
Several attendees voiced their concerns regarding the potential environmental impact of the development. Ana Santos of Squamish CAN asked if the project anticipates a rising sea level. She was told the land's elevation would be increased by one to four metres.
Another attendee voiced concern over newly returned herring roe at Cattermole slough. He was assured planners would be taking the marine life into consideration.
Squamish Arts Council president Krisztina Egyed said the land use draft is a good start but it requires a lot of adjustments.
"I think it needs some tweaking for sure," she said. "I didn't feel that I heard enough about job creation. I'm also concerned about the location of the performing arts centre."
She said the largest flaw she noticed is the lack of "scenescape strategy."
"There hasn't been proper analysis or strategy implemented for scenescapes and that's our No.1 amenity in this community," said Egyed. "Even when there are no jobs, people are still here because of the beautiful area and that always does more for the community than condominiums."
Egyed said even though much of the peninsula development claims to be community oriented, she doesn't feel the community aspect is glaringly obvious.
"I especially have concerns about a major hotel on the park, so how does that impact community use?"
For more information on oceanfront development or to share your opinions and comments about the current SODC land use draft visit createtheoceanfront.ca or squamishoceanfront.com.
The deadline for submitting comments regarding the land use draft is Nov. 15.
