With so much change happening in town, how does the District of Squamish plan to manage its history? That’s what the Heritage Management Strategy aims to figure out.
At the Nov. 28 committee of the whole meeting, council members unanimously voted to receive a report on the strategy while offering feedback. The strategy will still need to have further approvals before becoming practice.
Much like other strategies developed by the District, heritage management has short-, medium- and long-term goals that vary from building a community culture that values and cultivates heritage to implementing heritage tools and including heritage in neighbourhood planning strategies.
One highlight from the District report included establishing a Squamish Heritage Register, which would identify property that is “considered by the local government to be heritage property,” reads the report. Other highlights include updating the tree management bylaw to include heritage trees and developing an inventory of historical information and an archive in partnership with the Squamish Public Library.
“Echoing my council colleagues, I think this is an extraordinarily large step forward for heritage management in Squamish,” said Coun. Andrew Hamilton.
Council members also offered feedback on the proposal and several members stated they would like to see even more Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) history and input as the strategy continues its development.
“A lot of good points were raised today in particular about honestly examining our history and historical context,” said Coun. Lauren Greenlaw. “I'm in agreement with my council colleagues that I would appreciate a greater representation of Squamish Nation heritage. I think it'd be really interesting to see more information on how these lands have been historically inhabited.”
Greenlaw also recognized that Coun. Eric Andersen has pointed to the Sikh community as having a lot of influence and impact and hoped the group was represented as well.
On the topic of heritage registers, there were some mixed feelings between council members as to the best method of taking on this aspect. Coun. Chris Pettingill said he was “hesitant” taking on designating buildings until there was a better understanding of Squamish’s entire history, including Squamish Nation history, so these designations don’t favour one heritage over another.
Meanwhile, Andersen hoped the District could assemble staff quickly to help with an estimated six buildings that are “urgent, at-risk heritage assets” in current development circumstances or applications.
Jonas Velaniskis, the senior director of community development for the District, said staff do try to “incorporate heritage where possible in new development, if there’s heritage value in that location.”
As an example, he said the Sirocco apartments along the Mamquam Blind Channel incorporated signs and public artwork. Furthermore, he said heritage features are sometimes built into new developments but did not provide a precise example.
Other points of feedback to staff offered by council members included reviewing neighbourhood boundaries given in the strategy as well as including language that the items included in the strategy are just the beginning and more will come over time.
For more information about the strategy, review the report from the District’s website at squamish.ca.
