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Kicking Horse Mountain Resort finalizes master plan
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 by GetawayBC.com
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort’s long term vision is now on the verge of becoming a reality.
Last week, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (KHMR) held their final public presentation of their Master Plan (MP) for development with an open house and two presentations at the Golden Visitor’s Centre. The final revised MP has now gone to the government for approval.
The open house included detailed maps of the revision process over the last few years and conceptual artists’ renderings of future plans at the resort for those in attendance to view. There was a large crowd at the first presentation that included, stake-holders, government officials, town council members, representatives from Forest Services of B.C., the Golden Nordic Club, the Golden Back-country Recreation Advisory Committee (GBRAC), KHMR staff and residents and business owners of the community.
Steve Paccagnan, president and GM of KHMR provided those in attendance with a detailed presentation of the final draft of the MP.
“This is the revised MP that has been submitted to the province,” he explained, adding, “We have been going over these revisions since the last public consultation in the fall. Today we are here to show you how we have incorporated all the feedback into the MP.”
Paccagnan said that the key elements to the revised plan were comments from the public, government and stake-holders.
“We [at KHMR] believe it is important not to overlook the local community. Public comments received in the last few open houses were integrated in the revisions which were concluded in late November, 2008.”
Paccagnan said that KHMR spent much time focusing on the concerns of the public, particularly from members of GBRAC and the Golden Nordic Club.
“From our discussions over the last few months, I am learning so much about this community,” said Paccagnan, adding, “The Nordic group helped us look at how development would impact their trails and we are still working together to enhance the plan so that it protects the interests of their club. I am deeply committed to this.”
Paccagnan said the resort and designers have been working closely with Don Gardner, who is a world class Nordic Trail designer, to enhance Nordic opportunities.
Paccagnan went on to explain that under the Master Development Agreement (MDA), mandated by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, it was agreed that the area of Canyon Creek was to be removed from the Controlled Recreational Area (CRA) plans.
“We also did some base area modifications, trails and park design revisions and we are taking the historic railway bed into consideration when developing,” he said.
Paccagnan said that the resort is dedicated to addressing environmental and sustainability issues with the revised MP.
“We have invested in expert environmental monitoring and are ensuring that impacts into the Holt Creek area [to be used for water supply if needed] will be minimized. We are partnering with environmental groups like Wildsight to make sure these issues are closely adhered to.”
Paccagnan said that the sustainability and environmental plans within the MP were a lot better than they had in the past.
“That includes the new Parks plan where it has been determined that five per cent of all residential land will be designated Park land.”
Paccagnan said that while supporting the environmental groups is a priority for KHMR, he strongly supports the snowmobile clubs of Golden who also use trails around the resort and have for a long time.
“We are working on an operating plan to support each other as strategic partners as the resort develops and grows. Trail buffers are very important and we will continue to work together to ensure that there are minimum buffer zones set so as not to impede on the snowmobile trails.”
As in former presentations, Paccagnan said that the resort’s overall goal is to create a world class, year round resort destination in B.C.
“We want to create vibrancy, animation and life on the resort. Keep in mind this is a phased approach, over the next 40 years and it is a process. This is not condos blasting out of the ground, it will take time.”
With that, Paccagnan said the development will be promoting job creation. He said there is the potential for 500 construction jobs per year as the resort starts moving along. With respect to economic growth, he said there is a projected $32 million per year back into Golden in tourism dollars once the MP is in full swing.
Paccagnan finished by extending his commitment to the people in attendance.
“We have been listening and we will continue to listen. You have my personal commitment to that.”
As Paccagnan ended the presentation, the floor was opened up to questions from the public. Most questions were directed at Jeff Dolinsky, president of the Nordic Club and Darcy Monchak of GBRAC, of their opinions to the revisions of the MP.
“It is my view that there has been great improvements made in the plan with respect to discussions between the Nordic Club and KHMR,” said Dolinsky, adding, “We still have a ways to go and a lot of work to do, but there is no doubt about the fact that we are moving forward.
Monchak said that GBRAC is appreciative of KHMR sensitivity and will continue to work with them along the way
More questions followed with respect to the access road to the resort and the two bridges that reside there now. Paccagnan said that KHMR will continue to work with the Ministry of Transportation and Highways to make improvements to the access road to the resort.
“There is always room for improvement,” he said, adding,” and into the future with respect to the train bridge we will be working to enhance that crossing and we hope that CP Rail will be a player at that table. We will also continue dialogue about the future of the small bridge and the possibility of twinning it. There will be ongoing studies and we will work with our partners to improve it.”
After the presentation, Paccagnan spoke with the Golden Star about the future of the MP.
“The final plan that we have showcased here today has now been submitted to the province. We are committed to working with the community and local stake-holders and we are hopeful that the province takes this plan into serious consideration for approval. The next step in the process is to finalize our commitments and work on the Master Development Agreement. That will all happen on the province’s timeline.”
Psyche Brown, manager of major projects for the resort development division of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts said that she believes the ministry understands that all the issues are so far resolvable to some degree.
“We will continue to work with the resort and others to ensure that the appropriate changes are made and to make sure we’ve captured all of the community’s input in the Master Development Agreement and make any amendments to the MP to reflect those agreements.”
Brown said there is no real timeline for when the MDA will be signed and the resort can move forward with development of the MP.
“The development will only start once we are able to approve the MP as all issues have to be identified and addressed. At the moment we are continuing work with the First Nations to ensure that their concerns are addressed, then the next step is approval. The approval of the MDA it isn’t a slam dunk as we still have to meet every other regulation policy from the ministry. We need to make sure that the MDA commitments reflect mitigation measures from the public, all levels of government, stake-holders and First Nations groups.”
Keep an eye on the KHMR website, www.kickinghorseresort.com for the revised plan or visit the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts website at www.gov.bc.ca/tca and click on the link to resort development.;