Opponents and supporters of a controversial development proposal for the Southlands will be in Burnaby this week.
A Metro Vancouver public hearing will be held tomorrow at the regional district's offices starting at 11 a. m. If the hearing needs to reconvene, a second session will take place Friday at 1 p. m.
Metro Vancouver's board of directors gave preliminary approval to the application last month that would see the Century Group build 950 housing units on 20 per cent of the 214-hectare (537-acre) Tsawwassen property.
The remaining 80 per cent would be given to Delta, much of it for farming.
The Century proposal went through a five-day municipal public hearing last fall before getting conditional approval from Delta council. Delta then made an application to the regional district to amend the Regional Growth Strategy.
Any change in the designation requires a two-thirds weighted vote by the Metro board of directors.
Saying the Southlands is a gentrified name for the Spetifore Farm, Harold Steves was the only Metro director to vote against sending the application to a public hearing. He said the land was removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve decades ago on the basis that 92 hectares (230 acres) would be donated to Metro Vancouver for Boundary Bay Regional Park and that 214 hectares (537 acres) would be developed.
However Metro Vancouver opposed the rezoning and ended up buying the 92 hectares (230 acres) east of Boundary Bay Road for $ 7.5 million to expand the park.
Noting he was still in elementary school when the events Steves described took place, board chair Greg Moore said staff would have to research it.
According to the Century Group, activating the large parcel of farmland with a $ 9-million agricultural fund solves historic irrigation and drainage issues, and for the first time makes the site reliable, economically viable farmland.
"Southlands' Community Farm with its enhancements will increase local food production, protect farmland, make land available to farmers and create opportunities for community interaction," the company states. "The hope is to bring agricultural production into the hands of the community, where relationships are created between how, where and who grows the food of the local community."
Noting the application doesn't comply with the Regional Growth Strategy, Southlands the Facts warns the proposal sets a dangerous precedent.
"You should be aware the proposed rezoning plan is not the creation of a benevolent developer, but rather a misguided idea that Delta officials first proposed to the developer during the Mayor's Summit in March 2011," the group stated in a submission to the Metro board.
"Thinking this was a 'good compromise' with all stakeholders, Delta municipal officials have convinced themselves it is good policy to negotiate land swaps with developers as a means to preserve some arbitrary percentage of agricultural land. Is that a precedent Metro Vancouver wishes to endorse?" Metro Vancouver's offices are located at 4330 Kingsway.
