The Upper Mamquam Blind Channel lands could be Squamish's ticket to bringing in at least a small crowd of new faces during the 2010 Winter Olympics. Realtor Fred Yuen is hoping to turn his 2.8-acre parcel of land in the area into temporary housing accommodations for Games workers before, after and during the event.Yuen said VANOC staff members have supported his idea. "They went on my site on Scott Crescent and they liked that site. They'd be needing it for six months before and six months after."In response to the Chief's inquiries, VANOC's executive vice-president of services and games operations, Terry Wright, acknowledged the possibility in a brief statement Wednesday (Aug. 13)."Exploratory discussions have taken place regarding the potential use of the Scott Crescent location, however the conversations are still in their early stages so understandably it would be premature to go into any further details at this time," he stated.This temporary housing plan for the Olympics, however, is riddled with land use problems.Yuen's property is zoned light industrial, which if aligned the Official Community Plan (OCP) would typically allow for a temporary use permit. However, the current OCP doesn't designate the area as a potential temporary residential site, making the permit unfeasible. "The permits go by the OCP," said planning director Cameron Chalmers. "They're for commercial and industrial usesbut there's no temporary uses on residential."He said he has had discussions with proponent consultant Peter Legere about the idea, but noted that no formal application has been filed. The best route for Yuen might be to apply for rezoning to accommodate temporary housing, Chalmers said. But Chalmers also said it is not necessarily a problem that the site's zoning differs from its OCP designation."Those don't have to match and in a lot of ways it is desirable that they don't. It allows us to make zoning decisions later," said Chalmers.District staff members tried to create an area plan for the Upper Mamquam Blind Channel, but a spring stakeholders meeting produced such differing opinions that it yielded no results. The planning process is set to resume this fall. But Yuen said he's not interested in waiting much longer to find out how he may develop his land. According to BC Assessment, he purchased the lot last September for more than $2 million dollars. High taxes on the site are making it hard to use the land profitably, Yuen said.If he does seek to have the property rezoned to accommodate temporary housing, he would have a nearby competitor.Property owner Kingswood, which has tourist commercial zoning adjacent to Yuen, submitted a development permit to create an RV Park in July.Earlier this summer, council rejected their proposed residential project, Red Point, after two contentious public hearings. Site access problems posed a major roadblock along with debate about turning tourist commercial lands into a residential development.While disappointed with the bureaucratic challenges ahead, Yuen said he has not yet given up hope of creating temporary housing for the Games."In the meantime, I'm trying to clean the site up, which I have," he said. "I'm still hopeful that I can get the city to go along with me."An outspoken critic of local land development decisions, Legere expressed his frustration with the permit hang up."Couldn't this provision in the OCP be temporarily suspended to allow this use for this one time?," he asked in a letter to Chalmers."Seems a win-win situation to me: the proponent gets to derive income from his propertythe district gets a few extra bucks in taxes in the meantime, and there are a couple of hundred reasonably well-heeled customers within walking or cycling distance from the downtown merchants. "The Olympics will happen, and we will stand by the highway and watch it go by, and suffer the disruption in our lives, held back by the leash of our dysfunctional administration from availing ourselves of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
