The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) board has voted to give third reading to a raft of bylaws and apply a handful of requirements on the developers of Tiger Bay in South Britannia, clearing some barriers for the large development to proceed to next steps.
The board had previously, at the Sept. 27 board meeting, sent staff and the developer Tiger Bay Developments Ltd of the major mixed-use proposal back to provide more information, with questions and concerns about timing of amenities, construction of housing, and the needs of current and new residents as impacted by the master-planned community proposal.
What is included
Tiger Bay, which has received overall community support as seen at a Sept. 6 public hearing, will include 1,050 apartments and townhomes, the construction of a surf park, between 51,000 and 77,000 square feet of commercial space, and room for professional services and child care facilities.
SLRD staff were back before the board on Dec. 13 with a lengthy update based on discussions with the developer after decisions on giving bylaw amendments third reading were deferred.
Changes
With more information at hand, following lengthy discussion, the board voted (mostly) to support two bylaw amendments (Official Community Plan, and zoning) for third reading as put forward by staff, to refer the development to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) for assessment, and to make three adjustments to the development agreement.
The three adjustments were in response to board queries at the previous meeting.
Under the resolutions passed, the developer's 'Community Amenity Contribution' (CAC) is upped from $2,000 per market residential unit to $5,000.
The CAC funds will be paid to the SLRD upon the issuance of a development permit.
These funds are for the SLRD to spend on community amenities in the area that generates them, in this case, SLRD Area D.
The previous proposal from the developer that they offer $2,000 per market unit—of which there will be 900—would have generated $1.9 million for the regional district, while the new $5,000 CAC will generate $4.5 million if all 900 market units are built.
The staff recommendation on Dec. 13 had initially been for those funds to be paid to the SLRD on sale on each unit, but the board voted unanimously to amend the resolution so that the funds would be paid when the development permit was issued.
Another change was that construction of a community center at Tiger Bay would be built during Phase 3 of construction, rather than Phase 4, with the board retaining the ability to push that requirement back to Phase 4 if they chose to do so.
The third change touched on overall housing in Phase 1, and worker housing.
According to staff, the development phases now include 20 "interim housing cabins" to be built in Phase 1, which will be used to house construction and other workers and eventually be repurposed for tourism accommodation.
The item garnered discussion about permanence, and raised fears about the potential of the site being a temporary work camp, but staff explained that building requirements would force the 20 initial housing cabins to be of high quality, and therefore, not suitable as only a temporary installation.
Concerns raised
Two directors from Squamish, councillors Chris Pettingill and Jenna Stoner did not support approving the bylaw amendments, with Pettingill saying that the proposal wasn't robust enough to serve as its own community, but was likely going to be a commuter town.
"I don't see sufficient employment opportunities planned that match the affordable housing there," he said.
"For me, this is not meeting the bar of what I think is a complete community. We can get there, but we are seeing a single-industry commuter town, which we've pretty explicitly said we don't want to do."
Stoner said that while there had been a lot of work done on affordable housing, childcare, and in providing recreational space over the years, "the commercial space that is being provided is not setting the community up for success in terms of a long-term complete community.
"The lack of any form of light industrial space is a significant concern to me," she added. "We know that's one of the highest demands throughout the corridor, and there just isn't any here."
Both Pettingill and Stoner opposed the OCP and zoning bylaw amendments, which passed. Only Pettingill opposed referring the amendments to MOTI for approval, while all adjustments to the development agreement were unanimously supported.
'Substantially improved'
Speaking to the overall development and the process to get to the Dec. 13 board meeting, Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman talked about the improvements made to the development proposal.
"What's before us today is substantially improved over what we first got years ago, and months ago," he said. "I think we've done a good job. Have we done a complete job? We'll find out, but I think we've done a good job in taking it from where it was, as painful as the process has seemed at times … but it proves to me that the process works."
Whistler Mayor Jack Crompton talked about the importance of the developer working to provide worker housing through their commitment to build 20 cabins early on in Phase 1, saying that he hoped they had considered the adequacy of that housing deeply, and did not come back to the SLRD seeking any temporary building permits for more housing.
"We took time with this, and I think the result isn't perfect as we see from people voting against it, but I think it's a project that the developer will be more proud of; I know I'll be more proud of, I know it'll serve the region better than what we originally considered."
Timeline
The construction timeline of the project is divided into four phases, with housing mostly being constructed during Phases 2 (231 units), 3 (410 units) and 4 (259 units). Where the 150 affordable housing portions are included is yet to be determined, with the SLRD board to have a say through the housing agreement with the developer, which will be decided on before the first residential phase is approved.
The first housing development is not expected to occur until at least three years after rezoning and overall development approval.
Phase 1 of the development will be mostly for the recreational and tourism-focused facilities, with the surf park, skate park, and pump track to be constructed in this phase, along with a pedestrian and cycling path to North Britannia and associated trails. The 20 interim housing cabins will be built in this phase.
Phase 2 will include 231 units worth of housing, along with the dedication of a raft of parks, parking lots, land for a community center and more, while Phase 3 will include the construction of those amenities, more housing, the addition of a permanent CN crossing at Minaty Bay Park, and the provision of 38 childcare spaces.
Phase 4 will include more park construction, more housing, and the provision of an additional 38 childcare spaces.
As noted, commercial space at the development will be between 51,000 and 77,000 square feet, with a central neighbourhood commercial area.
There will be space for professional services such as healthcare, and the developer notes that there is potential for a police station in the commercial space on plan.
The makeup of commercial users will be determined by market demand. Industrial zoning is not included, though staff noted that there was scope for very light industrial uses in the commercial zones.
With bylaw amendments in place, from the SLRD and pending approval by MOTI, the developer can now proceed to the next steps of seeking a development permit.
The developer has previously noted that the whole project has a 15-year construction timeline.
