Squamish council has voted to move ahead with a 40-unit development in the Loggers East neighbourhood.
On May 20, councillors voted to give a rezoning application for 1032 Finch Drive its first three readings which would allow for 40 three-bedroom townhouses to be built on site.
District planner Bryan Daly said that buildings four and five in the centre of the development will be 14.4 metres tall with buildings one to three as well as building six reaching a maximum height of 11.5 m or three storeys tall.
“This element of the design was intended to address concerns from the neighbours regarding shading. The original application included four story townhomes across the entire site,” Daly said.
Each unit will be provided with two parking spaces—one in a garage and one surface stall—for a total of 80 residential spots, along with an additional 10 visitor spaces
“The applicants have committed to a 2.25 metre tall garage door height, which is tall enough to accommodate a full size pickup truck and also providing electric vehicle charging infrastructure in each garage,” Daly added.
Each townhouse, built by developer Du Guangping, will have three bedrooms and range in size from 1,500 to 1,600 square feet.
To allow for the 40 units to be built on site, Daly said the project took advantage of “density bonus options” that are outlined in the rural/low density multifamily land use designation.
This includes a 15% density bonus for public open space, a 20% density bonus if a portion of the housing is rental housing and a 10% density bonus with the provision of three of the energy climate targets noted in the neighbourhood plan.
To meet the public open space criteria, Daly said the developers are proposing a “community parklet (strata-owned) with a children’s play area, covered structure, and trail.”
The developers have proposed to meet the rental housing criteria by opting to “donate 5% of the project's gross floor area to the Squamish Community Housing Society.”
This will result in 306 square metres in at least two units that will be donated to the housing society, according to Daly.
To meet the energy efficiency target, Daly said the developer has committed to enter into a no-gas covenant, to provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure in each garage and to maximize the use of wood-based building materials for the project.
Council comments
Councillors were neither thrilled nor entirely against the proposal, but opted to support the three readings to allow for “much-needed” three-bedroom homes in Squamish.
“This development, I think, is consistent with what we've seen before in this neighbourhood. We certainly need this form of housing,” Coun. John French said.
“This is a little bit out there, but I'm impressed that the architectural drawings included snow dump areas, we don't usually see that, and we do occasionally get snow in Squamish. So good on these folks for having a snow dump.”
Coun. Andrew Hamilton said he had “reservations” over the lengths the developers went to achieve the 10% energy bonusing increase, but noted that it fit with the standards set for the area.
“I do think the building form is reasonable and appropriate for what this neighbourhood will become, and I appreciate the two units that will be going to the Squamish housing society,” he said.
“I think that's an important mechanism to support the Squamish housing society and deliver more affordable housing within our community.”
Coun. Chris Pettingill said he couldn’t support the development due to its proximity to the Eagle Mountain - Woodfibre Gas Pipeline Project.
Earlier in the evening, he voted against giving a rezoning application for an 18-townhouse development in Dentville its first three readings for the same reason.
“I think obviously, if the concern about understanding the pipeline risk was an issue in the last rezoning, it definitely is on this one, which is basically right on the pipeline,” he said.
Pettingill also raised the issue with the developers offering a higher garage door height.
“[I'm] trying to wrap my head around our push for higher garage heights to support large vehicles, while at the same time we're having discussions about reducing parking requirements and vehicle dependence,” he said.
“I think, to my mind, we may need to rethink that ask in general, but the developers have offered what council has been asking for here, so it shouldn't be an issue with this one.”
Coun. Jenna Stoner said she was willing to support the application with a “sunset clause” amendment to ensure the development would be built within the next three years.
“I appreciate that is a short timeline and turnaround. The reason why I'm doing it for that timeline is because it falls in line with our agreement around the CMHC housing accelerator fund, which are the commitments under which we have said that we would review our policies and the standards with which we're holding developments accountable in order to get housing built,” she said.
“This [development] doesn't really hit the mark as presented, but I think I'm willing to entertain that, if it means that they can actually get shovels in the ground and deliver on 40 units of housing that we know that our community needs, not in five years time, but in two years time.
“So if the developer is able to do that, then great, and otherwise, they can come back with something different.”
Fellow councillors, except John French and Eric Andersen, supported the amendment.
Mayor Armand Hurforf addressed councillor concerns over the density bonus pieces to wrap up comments on the newly amended motion.
“Bonuses are ways that we incentivize things that we would like. And often we see development proposals come before us and ask us to vary things and vary targets that we set out, whereas this is ...people taking our invitation to walk into these commitments,” he said.
Hurford said that council should revisit the regulations around the sub-area plan for the Loggers East neighbourhood at a later date to try and avoid further issues.
“I was happy to see the plan feels like it addresses the very reasonable feedback from the neighbours. I thought that was great to see that evolution and setting back the taller buildings and going shorter along the edges of the property,” Hurford said.
He also noted that there is an “identified need” for large three-bedroom units in town.
“Not every development can tick all the boxes and can be everything [we want]. So we do need to keep an eye on this particular piece,” he said.
“And it might be a case of first past the post, and there might be a point where there's a lot of development there, that is three-bedroom, and so there might be opportunities for smaller units going forward. But we do have this need identified now.”
Council voted 5-2 in favour of giving the rezoning application its first three readings with councillors Chris Pettingill and Lauren Greenlaw opposed.
The application will return to council at a later date for adoption.
For more information on developments happening in the area, visit the
