Garibaldi Estates Neighbourhood Plan public engagement to begin fall 2021

The District is starting a public process to develop, with the community, a neighbourhood plan for the Garibaldi Estates. This is expected to be a two-year process that District Planning staff will begin with residents this fall.

Key Takeaways:

Development Interest:

 

Why a neighbourhood plan, and why now

The natural environment surrounding Squamish supports an incredible lifestyle. Given our proximity to the Lower Mainland, it’s unsurprising that Squamish is experiencing rapid growth. This, in combination with other factors such as an ongoing residential housing supply shortage across Canada, creates a high demand for housing in Squamish and affordability challenges.

To address these challenges, the District is working to both manage growth and support affordability with the tools available to local government.

It is critical to preserve the surrounding environment that fuels our lifestyle.

It is also critical to provide a diverse range of housing that meet the needs of current and future residents. Infill is a way to find new housing opportunities within existing Squamish neighbourhoods, without sprawling beyond the current community footprint. Infill includes housing forms such as laneway homes, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhomes, row houses and multi-use buildings.

This neighbourhood planning process will work with Squamish residents and non-profit organizations to determine how infill housing could be accommodated in the Garibaldi Estates over the next 20 years and beyond.

Neighbourhood infill is important in the District for many reasons. This includes those already mentioned such as diversity of housing forms which leads to more affordability. It also aligns with the goals of more complete neighbourhoods to support community amenities, services, transit, and employment space, and helps share the cost of existing infrastructure over a greater number of taxpayers. This is good for liveability, the environment and addressing climate change. Staff will explore these ideas in more detail with residents through the neighbourhood planning process.

 

Why Garibaldi Estates

The Squamish 2040 Official Community Plan identifies Garibaldi Estates as a key location to accommodate neighbourhood infill within the District given its central location along the core transit network and highway, its role as an existing major commercial hub and its lower flood risk relative to many other areas of the community within the floodplain.

While the District needs to find ways to incorporate neighbourhood infill in the Estates, what that looks like has not been pre-determined. Instead, staff will work with residents to develop a plan that is a good fit for the neighbourhood and improves the livability of the area.

 

What comes next

The neighbourhood planning process is expected to take about two years and will begin in late September. The District’s goal is to reach a broad range of residents throughout the process, both in the neighbourhood and across the community.

We recognize residents have many questions and staff look forward to further conversation once the process gets underway. 

For more information about the neighbourhood planning process, the proposed Garibaldi Estates neighbourhood plan area, the Veteran's Land Act (VLA) Lands and to submit your comments to staff, please visit our project page at squamish.ca/garibaldi-estates

 

 

 

 

August 11, 2021