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Meeting on contentious Tsawwassen greenhouse plan

Council will hold a workshop on Monday to discuss concerns raised by Tsawwassen residents about “industrial” greenhouses on farmland surrounded by homes.
tsawwassen greenhouse
While the property is currently zoned by the city as agricultural, it’s not in the Agricultural Land Reserve, something that’s been highlighted as a “builder and investor alert” in real estate listing.

Council will hold a workshop on Monday to discuss concerns raised by Tsawwassen residents about “industrial” greenhouses on farmland surrounded by homes.

Members of the newly formed group Concerned Citizens of Delta South will make a presentation on a greenhouse complex that was about to be built on agricultural property adjacent to the Forest by the Bay subdivision. The property is zoned agricultural but not in the Agricultural Land Reserve.

Now owned by a numbered company, the 45-plus acre (18 hectare) farm in the 5700-block of 6th Avenue had formerly been referred to as the Guichon Property and subject of a rezoning proposal decades ago. The city imposed a stop worker on site clearing in this June because the owner didn’t have the proper permits including a soil deposit permit.

 

Adding to the concern of nearby homeowners is that the property was listed for sale for $23.8 million, described as rezoning opportunity to residential.

Planning staff told council recently that an application has been submitted to build a residence at the site.

Mayor Lois Jackson assured residents that “this file is very alive and active” and that there’s “a great complexity and a lot of players here.”

Under Delta’s current zoning bylaw, greenhouses are a permitted use in agriculturally zoned properties. Residents are complaining the livability of the area will be severely compromised with a large-scale greenhouse in a residential neighbourhood. They also claim the area is an active wetland.

Open to the public, Monday’s meeting takes place at 4:30 p.m. at city hall.