The Burns Bog Conservation Society is upset Delta council is taking steps to change the designation of land adjacent to Burns Bog ahead of any public hearings.
Council met with the board of directors from Metro Vancouver last Friday to present a report that aims to re-designate a 36-hectare (89-acre) parcel of land east of Highway 91 and south of 72nd Avenue in North Delta to "general urban" in Metro Vancouver's Regional Growth Strategy.
Delta CAO George Harvie said the board voted to accept the application. The board also requested Delta hold a public hearing on the proposal before the application will be considered.
Currently, the Regional Growth Strategy has the property zoned as "conservation and recreation" or areas "intended to protect significant ecological and recreation assets."
"We feel the Corporation of Delta has failed to follow due process," said Burns Bog Conservation Society president Eliza Olson. "It should have been taken to the community.
"There's been information meetings but not a public hearing where the community has the opportunity to raise its concerns," Olson said.
Harvie said the municipality is simply following the process.
"We're following the application process set out by Metro Vancouver," Harvie said, adding that more public consultation is needed.
He said MK Delta Lands, which owns the parcel, recently withdrew the outlet mall portion of its large-scale residential-commercial project and a more detailed proposal will be going to the public in the coming months.
"There needs to be more consultation with the community," he said.
Heather McNell, the regional planning division manager with Metro Vancouver, said before last Friday's meeting that if the report was passed it will push the process to change the land use designation but that will take time.
"If the report is passed, it simply kick starts the amendment process, but there will be no staff recommendation to the board on whether to support the amendment or not until October."
Olson said any development that could threaten the ecological sustainability of Burns Bog is unwelcome. The land is adjacent to the bog but not in the conservancy area.
"I have people coming into the society's office expressing their opposition to the MK Delta Lands proposal," Olson said.
"I hope that Metro Vancouver stands firm and refuses to change the zoning designation within the Regional Growth Strategy plan."
