It’s a big controversy in Richmond but something long settled in Delta.
The group Richmond Farm Watch and concerned citizens have been loudly voicing concerns about the continued construction of large mansions on prime agricultural land, seen by speculators as a cheap source of land.
An average house size in the ALR in Richmond reached a staggering 12,583-square-feet in 2015. While Richmond council moved to curtail what’s been going on, many are complaining it’s not enough.
The Ministry of Agriculture’s guidelines recommends a maximum house size of a little over 5,000 square feet.
However, the majority on Richmond council this May voted to allow homes twice that size. That’s drawn the ire of Richmond Farm Watch and others.
“When the ALR was established in 1973 we were producing 86 per cent of our vegetables in BC. Today it is 43 per cent. Vast acreages of Canada grow and export vast amounts of wheat, but ‘you cannot live on bread alone’” said Coun. Harold Steves.
“The BC Ministry of Agriculture estimates that we need to bring an additional 200,000 acres of the best farmland back into production if we are to be food self-reliant in BC. That would take every acre of unfarmed land, golf courses and non-food producing farms that are in the ALR.”
Coun. Carol Day is also calling on the rest of her council to adhere to the new provincial guidelines.
It’s been a decade since Delta took measures as a local government to protect farmland, including taking the lead to prevent buyers from purchasing farmland as a cheap place to build mansions, limiting house sizes and defining a farm "home plate" on agricultural properties. The maximum farm home plate for a principle dwelling is 3,600 square metres (38,750 square feet). That usually allows a house of just over 3,500 square feet to be constructed on that plate. Delta also allows one additional dwelling unit for a full-time farm worker.
At several council discussions this past year, Delta politicians openly questioned why their Richmond counterparts were still not following Delta’s lead to stop the mega-mansion problem.
In a recent interview, Coun. Ian Paton said he informed several potential buyers looking to purchase farmland in Delta about the house size restrictions, which prompted them to immediately walk away.
