It's time Delta council became an active participant and allowed his development proposal for the Southlands to move forward for public input.
That's the message Century Group president Sean Hodgins gave during a presentation to civic politicians Monday.
The council chamber was packed as Hodgins went over the attributes of the scaled-down proposal he first presented earlier this summer. He also delivered a stern message that once he submits an application, it's time to allow the people to have their say at a formal public hearing.
Saying he was expecting a council report on his earlier presentation, Hodgins noted he simply wants to know what process will be followed and what kind of timeline he can expect.
"I feel I've lived up to the obligations in terms of bringing something before you and I hoped there would be recommendations whether to go forward," he said.
"I want to understand with clarity how council is going to deal with it and I think the public wants to know how council will deal with it. I just think the community wants to know," Hodgins said.
Responding to several recent letters from residents, Delta staff noted they weren't "meeting or working" with Century Group until a formal development application is submitted.
CAO George Harvie said once the application is submitted, and he was expecting Hodgins to do so in short order, several things have to be sorted out, including how the consultation process should unfold, as well as recommendations on what Delta should do with the agricultural land Hodgins is willing to hand over.
He said the earliest a council report could be ready is mid-October, but it wouldn't contain recommendations to consider preliminary approval just yet.
Community planning director Tom Leathem pointed out a public consultation process was also held prior to the Delsom Estates housing proposal going to council for preliminary approval.
The Southlands is zoned agricultural but was pulled out of the Agricultural Land Reserve 30 years ago.
The Century Group has owned the 500-plus acre property, bordered by Boundary Bay Road and 56th Street, since Tsawwassen Development Lands defaulted on a mortgage not long after a controversial housing proposal in the late 1980s failed. The TDL plan would have covered almost the entire site with houses.
The current proposal, a scaled-back version of a 1,900 housing unit plan Hodgins pitched several years ago, contains 950 housing units with 80 per cent of the land, more than 400 acres, transferred to Delta. The housing would be built on the area nearest Boundary Bay with the poorest soil quality, said Hodgins.
According to a brochure distributed by his company this summer, the centerpiece of the latest plan "is a vibrant Market Square with walkable streets that connect agriculture with the larger community. The Southlands neighbourhood will include a mix of cottage, townhome and apartment-style housing."
The brochure states the new homes are key to funding the infrastructure needed to improve the agricultural capability of the remaining land, including a drainage system that connects to Delta's pump station.
On Monday, Harvie noted the latest proposal is vastly different than the original scheme, which he said wouldn't have even made it to the preliminary approval stage.
Coun. Bruce McDonald, who chaired the Tsawwassen Area Plan Committee, said it was frustrating his committee couldn't discuss specifics when it came to the Southlands, when in fact that's just what it should have done.
Hodgins said more than once Monday that industrial agriculture was an option he was looking at for the land if his proposal isn't approved, but he didn't want to elaborate when asked by Coun. Scott Hamilton if he had anything specific in mind.
A development application by the Century Group would also have to be approved by Metro Vancouver because the site is within the regional Green Zone, meaning it would also have to go though a public hearing at that level.
