Creating a Vibrant Downtown Squamish

Final Update (May 2018)

The following zoning amendment bylaws were adopted on March 20, 2018:

District of Squamish Zoning Bylaw No. 2200, 2011, Amendment Bylaw (Setbacks and Cash-in-lieu Parking) No. 2576, 2017

District of Squamish Zoning Bylaw No. 2200, 2011, Amendment Bylaw (Employment Space) No. 2577, 2017

District of Squamish Zoning Bylaw No. 2200, 2011, Amendment Bylaw (FAR on Cleveland, Upper storeys setback on Cleveland and Frontages on Cleveland) No. 2578, 2017

A Public Hearing was held on February 13 to hear from the community on the proposed Downtown Zoning Changes Bylaws. 

Second Reading of the Downtown Zoning Changes Bylaws took place January 23 - Read the report to Council.

Proposed Downtown Zoning Changes

Three proposed changes are the product of the Downtown Zoning Changes project:

1. Setbacks and Cash-in-lieu Parking
2. Employment Space
3. Floor Area Ratio on Cleveland, Upper storeys setback on Cleveland and Frontage on Cleveland

1. Proposed Amendment Bylaw (Setbacks and Cash-in-lieu Parking) No. 2576, 2017: View the bylaw

Third Avenue and Pemberton Avenue Setbacks (Map below)

• Require a minimum building setback of 2.5m along any property line fronting Third Avenue from Bailey Street to Westminster Street and reduce the laneway setback by an equal amount to ensure adequate streetscape space for wider sidewalks, trees, parking and separated bike lanes. 
• Require a minimum building setback of 1.5m along any property fronting Pemberton Avenue from the active CN Rail line to Third Avenue and reduce the laneway setback by an equal amount to ensure adequate streetscape space for wider sidewalks, trees, turning aisles, parking and separated bike lanes. 

Cash-in-lieu Parking:

• Limit all Downtown commercial parking cash-in-lieu buyouts to a 4 space maximum, after which parking cash-in-lieu would operate on a one to one ratio (receive 1 additional cash-in-lieu space for every 1 on-site space provided) to support employment space development.
• Allow unlimited cash-in-lieu buyouts for properties fronting Cleveland Avenue between Pemberton Avenue and Main Street having a lot width of 16 m or less, or for developments that contain 100% employment space as long as accessibility stall requirements are met, to support employment space development. 

**The cash-in-lieu regulations only apply to commercial parking stalls, not residential. If a developer decides to use the cash-in-lieu option, they can choose to pay for commercial parking stalls instead of providing these stalls on site. One stall currently costs $15,000. Cash-in-lieu funds go into a District reserve to fund the creation of new centralized parking stalls (such as a parkade) that would ultimately be designed to serve the Downtown commercial area.  

2. Proposed Amendment Bylaw (Employment Space) No. 2577, 2017: View the bylaw

• Require a minimum of 20% of a building’s gross floor area (GFA) be used as employment space to increase the amount of employment space downtown.

 3. Amendment Bylaw (FAR on Cleveland, Upper storeys setback on Cleveland and Frontage on Cleveland) No. 2578, 2017: View the bylaw

Floor Area Ratio (FAR) on Cleveland:

• The maximum density for properties with frontage on Cleveland Avenue south of Pemberton Avenue and north of Main Street shall depend on the percentage amount (%) of employment space provided, to maintain a smaller building scale while encouraging employment space development (no change to height), as follows:

Frontage on Cleveland Avenue:

• Properties with frontage on Cleveland Avenue south of Pemberton Avenue and north of Main Street shall have a maximum width of 16m for each individual commercial unit located at the street level to maintain small scale commercial along Cleveland Avenue.   

Upper Storeys Setback on Cleveland Avenue:

• Properties with frontage on Cleveland Avenue south of Pemberton Avenue and north of Main Street, shall have no portion of a building project past a line angled from the sidewalk to maintain a smaller building scale and reduce the impact of building shadows along Cleveland. 

 Example diagram of Upper Storeys Setback:

View the Downtown Zoning Changes Project background information.  

Stay up to date as we work towards implementing our Downtown and Active Transportation visions through zoning changes and other initiatives, by following this page.