A large industrial development adjacent to Burns Bog has received Metro Vancouver’s go-ahead.
Last week, the board of directors voted in favour of the MK Delta Lands proposal which has been winding its way through the application process for several years.
Earlier this summer, the Metro board granted first and second readings to a land use designation change from agricultural to industrial and referred the proposal to municipalities for comment.
Richmond council was the only one to formerly vote in opposition to the City of Delta’s proposed amendment to the Metro Vancouver regional growth strategy.
The development west of Highway 91 near Nordel Way and the South Fraser Perimeter Road includes 2.2 million square feet of industrial space.
Delta council granted conditional approval following a public hearing in the summer of 2016, but final approval was pending a number of conditions being met.
The plan also includes the transfer of all of MK Delta’s other land holdings, which total 132.7 hectares (328 acres), to the City of Delta for conservation, including land east of Highway 91 where the company had originally sought to build housing. The company, among other things, also committed $6 million to agricultural drainage and irrigation improvements.
The Agricultural Land Commission granted conditional approval for Agricultural Land Reserve exclusion.
A report to the Metro board, meanwhile, notes, “Given the location and site context of the subject property, an extension of the Urban Containment Boundary will likely not lead to a proliferation of applications. It is noted that there is one large property to the east that is currently in the ALR. If the redesignation application for the subject property is successful, this large remaining parcel will be additionally isolated, and one can anticipate an increased likelihood of a future application for a Metro 2040 amendment for that property.”
The report also notes the addition of the MK Delta property to the regional industrial lands inventory would provide an additional 43.8 hectares (108.2 acres) of industrial land “which would be of local and regional benefit from an industrial-activity, goods movement, and employment generating perspective.”
The project still requires other approvals including final approval from Delta council, which is expected in a few weeks.
The Burns Bog Conservation Society has been lobbying against the project, saying it will damage sensitive plant and animal habitat.
