Update: Squamish council considers scaled-back

Squamish council has directed staff to proceed with a new, significantly smaller rezoning application for the property at 40480 Tantalus Rd.

—Update: July 17, 2026— It is back to the drawing board with a new, smaller vision for 40480 Tantalus Rd. At its committee of the whole meeting on July 14, council directed staff to bring forward a rezoning bylaw for a new application to rezone the west portion of the property, with feedback from council at the meeting incorporated into the next iteration. While this is the first time this Tantalus Village proposal has been in front of council, a previous rezoning by the same developer, Target Real Estate Development Corp. (Target Homes) was submitted and received third reading at the April 9, 2024, special council meeting “but the conditions of adoption were never met,” reads the recent staff report to council.

Thus, that file was closed due to inactivity. The new proposal is for a four-storey mixed-use rental building with approximately 63 apartments and ground floor commercial space. The apartments would include 12 three-bedroom units, nine two-bedrooms, 30 one-bedrooms, and 12 studios.

The 15,000 square feet of employment space will make up the ground floor—24% of the total proposed floor area. The potential uses for the commercial space could be for retail, restaurant, office, or personal services.

The last time around, the project included 300 units and about four times the current commercial space. Getting technical, the new proposal is to rezone it from a rural residential (RL-2) zone to a comprehensive development zone (CD). “The applicant has indicated that a future rezoning application will be submitted for the eastern portion (of the property) in the future,” said Philip Gibbins, planner with the District.

Among other things, staff wanted the council’s feedback on a requested reduction in parking and on the community amenities included in this new proposal. For parking, 151 spaces are proposed, including 72 residential, 63 commercial and 16 visitor spaces. Typically, 168 spaces would be required, resulting in a shortfall of 17 residential spaces.

A publicly accessible communal outdoor space is proposed on the west of the property, but it is within the BC Hydro right-of-way, which restricts what can be done on it. At this stage, no details were included on what could be considered for this space. The current proposal is for the park space to remain under the control of the larger project, rather than transferring to the District once complete, which can be the case with such amenities.

The developer is proposing a public pedestrian connection along the southern boundary to tie Tantalus Road to the existing Corridor Trail. There would also be an extension of the sidewalk north to Harris Road on the west side and a pedestrian crosswalk at Harris Road across Tantalus Road, Gibbins said. The traffic impact for the previous zoning concluded that the proposed development would cause issues for the Garibaldi Way-Tantalus Road intersection, and it required upgrades to be undertaken prior to residential units being occupied, Gibbins told council.

“This current proposal is of a lesser scale,” he acknowledged. “For this proposal, staff are requiring an updated traffic impact assessment, including updated traffic counts to confirm the intersection is currently providing an adequate level of service, or if it's currently failing, and then also to predict a forecast if it is to fail in the next five years,” he said. “If it is currently failing or forecasted to fail, intersection upgrades will be required to proceed.”

Gibbins confirmed that the intersection has been identified as a development cost charge (DCC) project. “So, if the applicant was to build out an intersection, they would be eligible for reimbursement for the road portion of their DCCs up to the amount eligible for that project,” he said. Staff said that while it is on the docket as a DCC project, it isn’t a high-priority project.

Thus, it would not be happening for some time. Because it is close to a First Nation’s reserve, Kaw̓tín̓, which is less than 300 metres away, an archaeological impact assessment (AIA) is required prior to issuance of any development permit. Jessie Fletcher, acting director of community development, explained that this is based on the District’s relationship with Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw.

Sample council comments After much discussion and a few amended motions floated, council unanimously passed a motion that staff bring back the rezoning for council consideration of readings, with the following items of feedback incorporated: - Development cost charge options for addressing the Garibaldi Way-Tantalus Road intersection. - Further exploration of what to do with the open public space, as well as options for ownership of the park (such as it being handed over to the District).

- Some new options for how parking spaces could be allocated. - Extended frontage to Harris Road. Coun.

Jenna Stoner proposed an amendment, which was supported by most of council, to also include that staff ask for an expiration clause on the land development agreement for the project. “I think it's important that we start including expiration clauses for land development agreements so that we make sure that everything is neat and tidy and we're not tied into agreements for decades,” she said. Coun.

Eric Andersen opposed adding the expiration date, or sunset clause, because he believes there should be a District policy on such clauses first, rather than adding them individually to projects without a larger plan. Stoner also proposed adding that staff look into increasing the amount of employment space within the building. “There are different ways that this could be achieved, whether it's a percentage of the gross floor area in the existing four-storey building or increase the number of storeys in the building,” she said.

“We've lost a whole floor of employment space from when this previously came to us under a different version of the application. (I) appreciate this as a brand new application. The need for commercial space, employment space, office space, has not reduced in our community and this is an opportunity to maximize a really centrally focused piece of land in our community in the Tantalus area.

I think it's a real loss if we don't maximize the airspace that's available to us in order to deliver the things that our community needs most, which is both housing and employment space.” This amendment also passed, though Mayor Armand Hurford, Couns. John French and Andersen opposed.

Next, District staff will prepare the bylaws and bring them back before council—likely after the next election given the current schedule—for bylaw readings based on the feedback provided. —Original story: Apr 10, 2024— After a marathon of a public hearing, council ultimately approved a new mixed-use development on 40480 Tantalus Rd. On Tuesday, April 9, council held a public hearing about the proposed project dubbed Tantalus Village from proponent Target Homes.

After about 15 people spoke, council passed the third reading of the rezoning application for the project by a 6-1 vote. Coun. Lauren Greenlaw was the sole opposing vote.

With the passing of the third reading, council will presumably adopt rezoning at the next regular business meeting. “It doesn't address every concern that's been raised, but we have worked really hard to try and balance all the competing interests here,” said Coun. Chris Pettingill, who also referenced the housing needs assessment.

“Again, it's not perfect, but I think it gets to a place where it does meet the thresholds where some of the trade-offs are acceptable.” The debated project lies just north of Fire Hall No. 2 on Tantalus Road with one building on the west and two on the east. There are about 300 residential units proposed across the three buildings, each six storeys in height.

A District staff report from Feb. 20 states about 77.5% of the project is residential, 20% is commercial, and 2.5% is commercial child care. “As I reflect on where we’ve landed, this is not a perfect development, but it is meeting a lot of the benchmarks that we know are desperately needed in our community,” said Coun. Jenna Stoner.

“And, predominantly, that’s the housing needs assessment which requires ... 6,840 new homes by 2031.” Public feedback The majority of the public who spoke lived near the project and raised some issues relating to the six-storey height, increased traffic impacts, stormwater and flooding, and impact on neighbouring properties. A few who spoke were supportive of the increased housing for the community.

There were numerous community amenity contributions secured with council’s approval, including about $1 million cash in lieu and donating a portion of the floor area to the Squamish Community Housing Society. Other contributions include land for a park parallel to Highway 99, a corridor trail connection, and a connection to Coho Park. “The benefits of this proposal, particularly in the contributions to our perpetually affordable housing society, the addition to market rentals and the addition of the park spaces to our park network ... make the benefits of this project outweigh the harms that are caused to the immediate neighbours and the immediate neighbourhood of the community,” said Coun.

Andrew Hamilton. Also included is money for public art, a no-gas covenant across the project, and 20% of units needing to be three bedrooms, among others. A traffic signal to the Garibaldi Way and Tantalus Road intersection will also be installed before occupancy.

Reason for opposing vote Greenlaw spoke briefly about why she voted against the third reading. “My concerns still gravitate towards my previously voiced concerns around carrying capacity for our region,” she said. “And, in addition to that, I do have a lot of concerns about the ... traffic around intersections that are currently failing or will fail with the volume introduced by this project.”

Greenlaw was also the only opposing vote for the project’s second reading. During that council meeting on March 19, she made a plea to the province to provide more financial support to Squamish for regional transit, retaining educators and doctors, child care and more. “A community needs more than just roofs over their heads to be livable,” she said at the time.