It’s been a long time since the Southlands was on the radar. Things have really ramped up in the past months, with a steady stream of tandem dump trucks rumbling through town and significant road disruption along Boundary Bay Road.
We knew it was coming since the project was approved a few years back. It took a while to get started, but things are in full swing now.
Like any major project, there will be requests for changes along the way. Tsawwassen Springs made some big changes. Marina Gardens went through a comprehensive redesign, with public input and presentations made along the way.
Now it’s the Southlands turn. I thought the plan was pretty well set – houses, a small commercial area with a market, a few small shops and a nice walking space. Commercial use on ground floor, residential above.
That was until I received a notice last week for public input on a “proposed text amendment” to “allow freestanding commercial buildings as a principal use and to allow a broader range of commercial uses such as brewery, distillery, and winery for the subject properties.”
I looked around a bit for more information about it. A local brewer was looking at a small brewery operation and restaurant. I thought it was an interesting idea – use the farmland to grow the ingredients and brew them close by. Then I flipped the page and saw the map.
The proposed change is in the middle of the new residential area, very close to the existing properties in Boundary Bay.
It seems a bit strange to put a brewery in the middle of a residential area. On the edge of the development near the farmland maybe, but across the street from a house, and almost within sight of a school? Would it make sense if a brewery was built in place of a hydro line house? Or as part of the redevelopment of the Town Centre Mall?
I don’t think anyone envisioned more than houses and small shops on the Southlands initially. A change for a brewery seems like a bit much. It’s a long way from the original plan that was presented, that most of the community opposed in the first place.
I’ve got nothing against the brewer, who is a respected, valued business in our community. But I think we have to be careful how far the envelope is pushed with this development. The process to get to an approval was long and contentious. The feedback for on the project was significant (I read all the letters and comments made available through the application process). The public hearing was long, and shut down before everyone had spoken. The opposition to this development was extensive.
And now, the changes being proposed are not in keeping with the original vision for the land.
The decision on this proposal will not come before the current council, so it may become an election issue – how much variation should be allowed on this development?
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe people will want this. All I know is the biggest compromise in Delta’s recent history is being changed further.
I wonder what would have happened if this was part of the original proposal?
Brad Sherwin, MBA is a long-time resident of South Delta, and has almost 30 years’ experience in marketing, public relations and business strategy. He teaches marketing at Douglas College, coaches hockey goalies and is president of the board of directors at Deltassist.
