"Good deeds pay off for Westmana"
Apartment Proposal gets third reading and community praise at public hearing
Squamish, B.C. - (June 6, 2008) - Extensive efforts to help two non-profit community groups find a new home paid off for Westmana Development Corp.
They were showered in praise at a public hearing for their 52 unit waterfront apartment building the MirEAU, which unanimously received third reading from council on Tuesday (June 3). The Mamquam Blind Channel site was originally home to the Howe Sound Women’s Centre and Sea to Sky Community Services.
The company has given the women’s centre $185,000 to help them relocate to a new building on Third Avenue. They have also offered to pay Sea to Sky Community Service’s rent for the next two years. “Westmana has secured our longtime future at a time when two years ago we weren’t even sure we could keep our doors open”, said the women’s centre executive director Allison Twiss. Members of the Squamish Yacht Club and Squamish Tugboat also spoke in favour of the development. “My family and the employees of Squamish Tug support this proposal 100% ,” said the company’s manager Chris Tamburri.
Westmana also had plans to build a new yacht club as the development builds further south. “They’ve been very cooperative with us,” said yacht club member David Beech. “I’m totally in support of it.”
The MirEAU will add the first portion of the long-awaited waterfront walkway, which the Downtown Neighbourhood Plan has planned to run along the edge of the downtown’s waterfront through to the Oceanfront Lands.
Some speakers pointed out the project has limited mixed use since only 1,000 square feet of it is dedicated to commercial use. “One thousand square feet is about a third of my store,” said Downtown Business Improvement Association Greg Fischer, but noted the association supports the plan.
A Brackendale resident who said her kids would soon leave home, said the building would help people like her that are looking to downsize while staying in Squamish. “It appears to meet many of the criteria that my husband and I will be considering when we choose a future place to move to in Squamish,” said Vicki Haberl.
Mayor Ian Sutherland struggled to keep one speaker under control as downtown resident Peter Harker rolled out his plan for more green space in town, which he said would compliment the development. This particular park proposal would be crucial for this development,” he said, holding up several pages of a plan for waterfront green space he termed the Sea Park. "Mr. Harker, please address this rezoning application," Sutherland said repeatedly. The Mayor gave his take on the development before it was unanimously approved for third reading.
"I think this is a fantastic project," he said. "This is a project that will kick start the rest of the development along the Blind Channel."
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