Before the end of December, a business proposal was put forward to Squamish city council to consider the installation of an Aerial Rope Course that would take up at minimum 50% of the parking lot capacity at the Squamish Adventure Centre parking lot. Despite objection from members of the climbing community who attended this meeting, the council voted in favour of moving forward on this proposal, which is now in a period of public comment until January 10th, 2017.
The proposal comes at a time where the District of Squamish continues to struggle with a management plan for the increase d visitor traffic to the Sea to Sky region. Since the installation of the Sea to Sky Gondola, the Squamish region has struggled to keep up to demand of those seeking outdoor adventure in the corridor. This past summer, climbers and tourists alike struggled to find parking in many popular destinations, with parking lots at the Stawamus Chief, Smoke Bluffs and Murrin Park often filling up before noon on the majority of days.
The proposal, put forth by local company Kristall Turm Inc, features a 2,500 square foot Aerial Rope Course during the first phase (and 10,000 square feet in phase 2) that would accompany approx. 40 people at a given time, taking up approximately 50% percent of the Adventure Centre parking lot including 14 parking spaces. In exchange for rental of the parking lot space, The City of Squamish would receive 4% of of the annual gross revenue from the Aerial Ropes Course and the ropes course would create approximately 14 jobs in the area. The lease for this land wound be a five year term with the option to renew for another five years.
The question on the table is not whether the above proposal would be good for Squamish. Clearly, an attraction like this could have a positive impact on our small town, especially if it was located in an area that would bring traffic to our downtown core. The real question is whether or not the proposal would be a good use of publicly-owned land when big questions about parking capacity in the Sea to Sky Corridor have gone unanswered by City Council. From a climbers perspective, it seems short-sighted by the District of Squamish to consider a business proposal in such a centrally located area that could be the jumping point for a number of parking, transit and carpooling solutions that could potentially push the Sea to Sky corridor towards a greener future.
As a part of the outdoor community, we know that these public lands are finite and should serve the community as a whole to strengthen our mandate to support ourdoor adventure in the Sea to Sky Corridor.
To comment on the current proposal, please write Squamish City Council by January 10th, 2016.