Page 12 - GBC English Fall 2019

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Golf Business Canada
CASE STUDY:
Eaglequest Coyote Creek
Golf Course, Surrey, BC
In February 2018, Surrey city council approved a contro- versial development proposal submitted by Anthem Properties Group to turn a portion of Eaglequest Surrey Coyote Creek golf course into 325 homes — 46 duplexes, 219 townhouses and 60 rental apartments — on 24 acres of land. Unfortunately, a group of Surrey residents who live near the golf course were not supportive of this new development and became quite vocal with other homeowners and local media outlets. These committee members went door to door to collect signatures for their petition to share at a public meeting.
Recently, GBC Magazine had the opportunity to meet with Nafeez Hirji, Director at Primevest Capital Corp. (parent company of Eaglequest), to get some insight on this situation.
GBC: Can you outline the re-development process?
NH: The rst step in the process was understanding our zoning, new regulations, and the municipality and surrounding community needs. Discussions with stakeholders who can impact your success is crucial at this stage to understand your rights, the process for developing or changing your zoning, and to get a feel for what bene ts you can offer the municipality based on the needs of the surrounding community.
In our case, we knew we wanted to continue to operate our banquet business as well as our golf course, though on a smaller scale.
GBC: Did Eaglequest take this on internally, or did you partner with a 3rd party?
NH: Being a golf course operator rst and foremost, the process to re-zone and develop land was an unusual undertaking for us. We felt it would be prudent to partner with a company that could provide the expertise required to navigate dealing with all stakeholders involved. Choosing that route may not always be necessary, but considering factors
such as an environment of immense public scrutiny of any new develop- ments in the urban area, re-zoning requirements, new environmental regulations, neighbourhoods abut- ting our land, and the city’s need for new roads, we believe we made the right decision in working with a team external to our own in this particular case.
Picking the right partner can also make all the difference. In our case, we worked with a company that had a strong track record of successfully completed and award winning developments in the region.
GBC: Which governmental agen- cies (municipal and provincial) did you work with?
NH: We met with the City of Surrey Planning; with Roadworks and Traf c Advisors; and with Environ- mental advisors. Whether it was us directly or our partners, there were ongoing meetings with various of cials from the municipality occurring on a monthly and then weekly basis.
GBC: What was the timeline?
NH: The entire process took over two and a half years.
GBC: What additional costs/ governmental fees were incurred? NH: In addition to the city’s admin- istrative costs, expect to incur addi- tional costs related to planning/ design, legal fees for advice and sale/rezoning, engineering fees for planning, PR expenses, and then of course reports such as environ- mental impact studies, traf c, etc.
GBC: Were there additional traf c & school zone audits, environmen- tal impact studies, water tests, etc., that were not anticipated? NH: All of the above and then some. Working with third parties who can navigate this process, especially in urban environments, can be hugely bene cial. The reports give you the crucial infor- mation required to navigate road- blocks in the approval process.
GBC: What challenges did you experience with the public/home- owners group and how did you overcome them?
NH: Members of the community, as well as patrons of our course, were engaged throughout the process. It would come as no surprise that many people objected