The District of Squamish continues to float ideas for boat launch solutions in town, and a potential short-term parking fix may come to the current boat launch after more analysis.
The District has been engaging with the community about local marine access on Howe Sound. At a June 13 committee of the whole meeting, one of the District’s planners, Sarah McJannet, updated council with potential interim and future marine access solutions.
The most immediate, yet short-term solution to marine access would involve the municipality facilitating “an interim public boat launch parking solution until a future permanent facility [or] site is secured and developed over time,” reads the report to council.
The report says that a cost analysis for such a proposal is currently underway.
Moreover, the report indicates that a new future boat launch is being explored at three other places within the Mamquam Blind Channel, which are referred to as Blocks 45 and 46A, Darrell Bay and Site B.
Upgrades to the current launch are also still under consideration.
All of these areas require significant studies and partnership, meaning a new and operational boat launch is still a prospect that is far into the future.
Blocks 45 and 46A are near the current boat launch and privately owned. Darrell Bay is provincially owned and has existing marine infrastructure requiring a buffer. Site B is on the east side of Mamquam Blind Channel and is owned by the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation).
“It's important that we be ready to participate in that conversation when they do outreach,” said Coun. Jenna Stoner about Squamish Nation’s Site B. “But at the end of the day, it is their vision that's going to drive what happens at Site B and so how we can be there to support is important in the long run.”
Several other council members shared similar feelings.
“Squamish Nation absolutely is the lead on that site,” said Coun. John French.
The Nation outlined in its 2022-2026 strategic plan the goal of “ensuring future generations can have a healthy relationship with each other and our territory by … creating opportunities for our people to connect with our land and waters,” which included “increasing our protection and control over fisheries and marine habitats important to the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh way of life.”
In its report, the District says they are open for a discussion about Site B “to determine shared interest in and opportunity for marine-supportive uses, if any, and potential synergies and community benefits for Squamish Nation, Squamish town and the region.”
Flood mitigation protection and windsports access
Furthermore, the report touches on the importance of flood mitigation measures in the downtown area, which could be added benefits of improving the downtown launch area in the meantime.
“Leadership in this area is also warranted given the parallel need to implement interim flood protection measures with landowners in close proximity to the existing boat launch where the
late December 2022 king tides and storm surge caused localized flooding in downtown south,” it reads.
A study on potential coastal flooding downtown is also underway.
The report also briefly touched on windsports access, noting that engagement called for the “District to work with government agencies to maintain access and to look at new access solutions to the newly formed ‘Spit Island’,” including ideas like a bridge or pier leading to the island or boat, ferry or shuttle access.
Council unanimously voted to receive the report and instructed staff to finalize engagement with the community to bring back to council at a later meeting before final endorsement.
“They understood the issue,” says local boat launch hopeful of council
Trevor Chelswick, an admin for the Squamish Needs a Boat Launch Facebook group and who has kept an eye on the launch situation for years, was pleased with how the report was received, saying McJannet did a “fantastic” job of capturing all the community engagement.
“Council was already quite educated. They had very good questions, very good comments, that clearly showed to me that they understood the issue,” Chelswick told The Squamish Chief after the meeting. “That means the efforts that the community has been taking … is being heard, so that was very promising.”
Chelswick recognized that the other areas under consideration for a boat launch were merely ideas and not guarantees. Regardless, he still stressed the importance of marine access in Squamish.
“We need to take advantage of every remaining opportunity to make sure that we have as much access as possible because there's not that many opportunities left; a lot of them have been squandered,” he said.
Other types of marine access in Squamish
Beyond a drive-able boat launch with parking, the District’s report tallied a few other areas of current and future marine access.
This included future access at SEAandSKY waterfront park, Red Bridge waterfront park, Sp’akw’us Feather Park, a sailing centre at Squamish Oceanfront, and several other places.
An idea from the report that seemed to pique the interest of several members of council included marine hubs similar to the mountain bike community in town.
“The marine adventure hubs, I think, is a great concept,” said Mayor Armand Hurford.
These were described in the report as areas containing “basic amenities (signage, waste bin, racks) to keep areas clean and safe from wildlife attractants, as well as potential for secure storage.”
“I love this idea of marine adventure hubs,” said French.
The variety of access throughout these points can be viewed in the report delivered to council, which is available on the June 13 council agenda.
