The District of Squamish is inviting the community to come out to an Open House to review and comment on the draft of the Downtown Neighbourhood Plan on March 12, 2008 from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the Howe Sound Inn in the Garibaldi meeting room.
During the open house there will be displays and a presentation about the draft plan, and community members will be invited to ask questions and provide feedback. The presentation will be given twice, at 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., with an opportunity for questions and comments immediately following each. Please be sure to come before the esentation to review the displays and other materials. The Downtown Neighbourhood Plan, when adopted, will become part of the Official Community Plan and will be a blueprint for future direction of downtown Squamish. The Downtown Neighbourhood Plan is built on previous planning work in downtown Squamish, including the Squamish 2000 Plan and the Smart Growth on the Ground process. The plan consists of a land use framework and policies to guide how the downtown should be as it grows and develops including how it will look and feel and work as the heart of Squamish.
"The draft downtown neighbourhood plan represents a union and balance of a lot of ideas that have been gathered from diverse parts of the community. This is a progressive plan for downtown that aims to maintain downtown as the vibrant heart of Squamish now and in the future," said Mayor Ian Sutherland. "Please take some time to review the plan at the meeting or online and let us know, if the draft plan - is it visionary enough, does it work, and does it provide an appropriate balance?"
For members of the community who have come out to previous meetings and given input on shaping the Downtown Plan, now is a great chance to check in and see how those inputs and suggestions are reflected in the plan. If community members have not had a chance to be involved yet, this is a great opportunity to get up to speed on the plan and to tell the District of Squamish what you think.
If you can't make it to the meeting, you can still participate by checking the District of Squamish website at www.squamish.ca. On the website the plan is available for download and a feedback form will soon be available to submit comments. A review of the feedback and of the community meeting will be posted online after the event.
