Harold Steves is on to something when he tells his Richmond council colleagues to look through the tunnel to find the answer.
The size of homes permitted on farmland has been a thorny issue for our northern neighbours for years now because, well, politicians in that city allow it to be that way. There’s little justification – at least not of the credible variety – for building a home that’s 10,000 square feet or more, but this ludicrous debate continues to drag on.
Steves has suggested Richmond adopt regulations similar to what Delta enacted a dozen years ago, legislation that has, to a large extent, curbed the practice of buying a piece of farmland in order to construct a mansion. I’m not so sure he’ll get many takers, however, given Richmond council’s resistance to anything resembling sensible house size limits.
Delta’s regulations, which are comparable to guidelines provided by the province, seem more than reasonable by allowing a 5,000-square-foot house, as well as a 2,500-square-foot secondary house, on a property of 20 acres or more, which sounds like more than enough space for any honest-to-goodness farming family.
What it has done is force those wanting to use the Lower Mainland’s cheapest real estate to create ostentatious estates that showcase their wealth to look elsewhere in the region. Like Richmond.
Since Delta enacted the regulations, I haven’t heard much in the way of complaining because there’s not much to complain about given that a 5,000-square-foot house is already double the size of many homes in our residential neighbourhoods. To think such a limit is woefully inadequate, and that a 10,000-square-foot house is somehow necessary, defies reason.
When you’re getting to homes of that size, it’s not a question of accommodating an extended family, which a 5,000-square-foot house could do quite nicely, but rather having the space for all the bells and whistles associated with a mansion.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with huge houses if that’s your thing, but don’t go through the back door and use the Agricultural Land Reserve as cover. Sooner or later I suspect Richmond officials will figure out that farm houses belong on farmland. Small hotels do not.
