Despite the vigorous objections expressed by some folks who live in the Garibaldi Estates, plans for eventual densification of the neighbourhood moved a step forward at Municipal Hall on Tuesday, May 9.
In a 5-2 vote, before an audience of about two dozen, council supported going forward with the next stage of long-term planning for the area.
Those in favour cited the need to address the current housing crisis, while those opposed pointed to the opposition from many current residents.
Mayor Armand Hurford and councillors Jenna Stoner, John French, Andrew Hamilton, and Chris Pettingill were in favour, while councillors Eric Andersen and Lauren Greenlaw were opposed.
What is this all about?
Staff previously presented high-level, potential land use scenarios for six subareas of the Garibaldi Estates neighbourhood, followed by public and stakeholder engagement on the plans.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, District staff put forward recommendations for six sub-areas in the Garibaldi Estates, asking for council’s nod to include those and other staff recommendations in the next stage of this neighbourhood’s planning.
The proposals for each area all include allowing more density than exists currently.
Opposition
This has been an extremely contentious topic, with many who live in the community expressing strong opposition to the level of densification proposed.
“A majority of participants in Stage 3 feel the neighbourhood should remains at its current density or see limited increase in the future. Participants expressed mistrust in the planning process and feel that the proposed scenarios do not reflect input the neighbourhood has provide in earlier stages,” reads the District’s engagement summary.
“Participants believe development will have negative impacts on issues such as neighbourhood character, environmental values, transportation, parking, infrastructure, and amenities.”
In addition to the crowd that showed up to watch deliberations on May 9, there were many letters sent disagreeing with staff's recommendations. Many felt that the opposition was not being heard. Some took issue with the survey itself, as it was seen to be time-consuming and cumbersome.
While the survey results were taken into consideration, staff said other information, such as feedback from members of the Squamish Community Housing Society, also needed to be considered.
The housing crisis was key to the recommended plan, said planner Matt Gunn.
“It's very challenging, from our perspective, to ignore that reality. And so that weighed heavily on consideration and recommendation,” he said.
Squamish needs about 6,800 more units of housing by 2031 if it wants to maintain its income and housing diversity, according to the Squamish Housing Needs Report, which was prepared by contractor CitySpaces Consulting.
Of those new homes, 43% will need to accommodate families with three or more bedrooms, and 24% will need to serve households earning less than $45,000 per year.
The provincial government has introduced its Homes for People plan and said it would bring legislation forward to encourage municipalities to build more housing to help ease the housing crisis.
Reasons in favour
Those on council who voted in support of advancing to the next stage with the level of density all spoke to the housing crisis, among other things.
"Our community is changing. And one thing that is always constant is change,” said Stoner. “And the best that we can do as a council as a community, with the support from our staff, is to make sure that we articulate what we think that that change should reflect over time. What are the values that we want to bring to this neighbourhood over time? And what are those things that continue to weigh on me is the housing crisis that we're in," she said.
"What has been presented as the staff recommendation to pursue the options of predominantly Scenario C across the board is, yes, the heaviest form of diversification in the three proposals, but it is actually not considered very heavy justification overall. We're not looking at 10-storey apartment buildings across Garibaldi Estates. In many of the areas, we're limiting it to triplexes and four-plexes, which is something that the province is likely going to require anyways in six months' time."
French said that those who were not represented well in the feedback received weighed on him most.
"Who's not here with us today, and who has not really shown up in an obvious way, in our consultation process are folks who are working two jobs, minimum wage or slightly above, living in below-market housing, and struggling at the end of every paycheck to have some money left over to save for the future. And I heard that voice loud and clear from the feedback that we got from the [Squamish Community Housing Society]," he said.
Reasons opposed
In opposing moving ahead with the recommendations, Greenlaw noted the negative community feedback, particularly as reflected in the survey.
"If you compile the 'I don't like any scenarios,’ which has been strongly associated with the sentiment of no desire for change, and Scenario A, those two numbers together represent about half of the responses," she said.
“I don't see much accommodation for the concerns from citizens largely impacting character and livability of our neighbourhoods. Nor do I feel that there's adequate conversation around the improvements to current road infrastructure and intersections to accommodate growth.”
In explaining his vote against moving forward, Andersen said council must act for the citizens here now.
“I am interested to give due attention to what we've heard from the public [who] live here today,” he said.
"The housing society has a mandate and perspectives. Ours must be broader, more holistic with other values to take into account," he said, later adding that up zoning does not necessarily deliver affordable housing.
Andersen also said Scenario C seemed to him to be aiming to become the "extended sprawl of Vancouver."
What is next?
Council will officially consider the recommendations on May 16 at the regular council meeting.
The next stage, which will run through November, includes online engagement, a draft plan and a Neighbourhood Land Use Open House, among other things.
If all goes according to plan, there will be first and second readings presented to council in November. If those readings pass, the plan would go to a public hearing and then third reading after that, followed by final adoption likely in December.
~With a file from Steven Chua/The Squamish Chief
*Please note, this story was updated to add that the committee of the whole decisions will be considered at the regular council meeting on Tuesday, May 16.
