There has been much discussion over the years concerning the future of Ladner's Paterson Park, but one local group has a concrete vision and it's taking it to Delta council later this month.
"The vision is to create a village for all ages and incomes," said ML Burke, chair of the Housing Action Team, a subcommittee of the Delta Seniors Planning Team.
Burke presented the plan at the Philosophers' Café at McKee Seniors' Recreation Centre last Friday ahead of taking it to council later this month.
She said the presentation to civic politicians was supposed to take place in October but had to be rescheduled for Nov. 18, so the public got a sneak peak last week.
The committee envisions an inclusive community that includes many facets: a mix of owned and rental units, seniors housing, assisted living and full residential care, adult and child day care, as well as co-housing units and a designated residential dementia care centre.
Co-housing, which started in Denmark more than 25 years ago, features individual homes clustered around a "common house" with shared amenities such as laundry, a kitchen and dining room, guest rooms for visitors or a children's playroom.
Burke described it as "a place to live and play with your neighbours."
The committee's vision, which was designed with many recommendations from Delta's Housing Task Force in mind, also includes an area with shops and restaurants as well as parks, community gardens and the maintenance of the racing oval for recreation and events.
In total, the plan includes about 300 housing units, approximately 60 co-housing units and a three-storey health care facility, along with the retail components.
The park at the corner of Highway 17 and Ladner Trunk Road was once a thriving harness racetrack, but has sat dormant for decades. Delta owns about 12 acres of the property while Kwantlen Polytechnic University owns the other 10 acres.
The university acquired its portion of the land from the Delta Agricultural Society 20 years ago with the goal of building a South Delta campus. However, last year the university announced there is not enough demand for a campus and that it was looking at selling its portion of the park.
A group of residents, Paterson Park for Deltans, has lobbied the municipality to purchase Kwantlen's portion to retain it as a public space.
However, Mayor Lois Jackson indicated earlier this year that it didn't look like the municipality would get involved.
"It's always a juggling match between the things we have to have and the things that would be nice to have. So, I'm not holding out much hope in that regard," she said in an interview this summer.
The Housing Action Team's plan would allow both parties to retain ownership with a financial benefit through lease fees and property taxes. Burke said the committee presented the idea to Kwantlen, as well as both Delta MLAs, who all expressed an interest in the vision.
Burke said the next step is to present the plan to civic politicians. She said the committee is hoping to see the municipality set up a task force to help determine the feasibility of the proposed plan.
