Editor:
Re: TFN to add substantially to housing stock, letter to the editor, Dec. 14
It may be premature to count 4,400 residential units on TFN land by 2041, or plan Delta's future based upon that growth.
TFN and Colliers International websites yield details on TFN land and housing plans. TFN's March 2011 "Neighborhood Plan" governs the development of added housing on centrally located land. It states that only three per cent of the land is owned by TFN.
The balance, fee simple land privately owned by TFN members, would presumably be the subject of long-term leases to one or more developers who must obtain permits from TFN in order to build. For each privately owned parcel the plan limits the total floor area that can be built for single detached, townhouse and apartment units. If built to the limit, new housing would total 1,864 units.
The conditions under which TFN might grant development permits are in "draft" form. Requirements are very generally stated with compliance subject "to the satisfaction of TFN" - not words to encourage investment.
On July 5, 2010, Colliers International began advertising 123 acres of the privately owned land for development with Nov. 15, 2010 set for execution of a final sales contract. They are still advertising. It may be that the conditions for leases and/or building permits are too troublesome or slow to evolve?
The Neighborhood Plan covers 270 acres north of Highway 17, south of TFN industrial and agricultural lands, west of the planned commercial development and managed forest. Residential units now on TFN property, including those at Tsatsu Shores, Stahaken and Tsawwassen Beach, total 241. Unless I am missing something, land for 2,295 additional must be found to achieve 4,400 units. So where might it be?
The available candidate seems to be 42 acres of undeveloped land south of Highway 17. Beyond that, according to TFN's January 2009 Land Use Plan, there are 388 acres of farmland and 153 acres in two remote parcels adjacent to the Fraser River and Boundary Bay. The farmland cannot be developed without ALC approval, and development of the remote parcels needs Delta council approval.
If my understanding is correct, it seems unlikely we will see 4,400 homes on TFN land in the foreseeable future, perhaps not even 1,864 additional ones.
Ed Ries
