After undergoing a number of changes, a residential development fronting the Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen has moved forward in the application process.
Delta council on Monday (Sept. 27) gave preliminary approval for the 20-unit townhouse development in order to send the proposal to a public hearing.
Requiring an Official Community Plan amendment, rezoning and other approvals, including an amendment to the site’s land-use designation under Metro Vancouver's Regional Growth Strategy, the application is to subdivide a portion of 5847 12th Ave. and consolidate it with 5766 16th Ave.
The remainder of the property would continue to be a part of the Beach Grove Golf Club.
Noting there’s been a noticeable uptick in interest in golf and new memberships since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, golf club past president Larry Wobick, in a presentation at a Delta council workshop in the summer of 2020, explained how the golf facility and its 900-members are not just part of the social fabric of the community, they are the community.
He explained how the golf club is currently carrying a $325,000 annual payment on a multi-million dollar mortgage taken out years earlier for needed upgrades, and how erasing that debt through the proposed land deal, which would only go through if the project was approved, would ensure the long-term financial picture of the golf club remains positive with good fiscal management.
Asked if another proposal may be coming along in a few years to remove more land from the course, he replied they don’t see that happening with the elimination of their debt combined with an apparent renewal in interest in their sport.
The solution being proposed could be for at least 25-to-35 years, he added.
In 2017, the applicant submitted a proposal to subdivide the subject site into 10 single detached lots. Following initial public notification and talks with the city, the applicant put that proposal on hold.
A revised proposal for a 22-unit townhouse development was received in December 2019. It was later lowered to 20 units.
Mayor George Harvie did not participate in this week’s council vote because he is a member of the golf club, so he declared a conflict prior to the start of discussion on the application, while Coun. Lois Jackson was not in attendance at Monday’s council meeting.
The vote to move the application to public hearing was approved by the rest of the council members present.
