A townhouse expansion planned for Tsawwassen Springs remains in limbo following an Agricultural Land Commission rejection last year.
Following a public hearing in 2017, Delta council granted conditional approval for 60 townhouses, a tennis court and other amenities immediately west of the current development. The 2.55-hectare (6.3-acre) site is in the ALR but not actively farmed.
Shato Holdings owner Ron Toigo purchased the property with the intent of taking most of it out of the reserve. The site was owned by another individual when the original Tsawwassen Springs housing application was put forward over a decade ago but the owner wasn't interested in selling at that time.
The latest development plan included subdividing that property into two lots, one of which would have housed the townhouses, while the other would have been consolidated with the golf course.
The plan would have seen the lot with the new homes excluded from the ALR, while the other would have received non-farm use status, both requiring ALC approval.
The requests were referred to the ALC in July 2017 but in May of last year the commission only approved the non-farm use application, denying the ALR exclusion.
Project manager Ross Clouston requested the city keep the application active in order to give time for the owner to make a request to the ALC for reconsideration. Council granted that extension.
Clouston told the Optimist this week there‘s been no change in the project’s stalled status and they’re not clear yet on how they’ll proceed.
Community planning director Marcy Sangret said the extension will last until June.
The luxury townhouse plan would have seen 60 three-bedroom, three-bathroom units built in 15 buildings.
During the public hearing, an agrologist for the applicant said the area had been used extensively for depositing fill, including asphalt and concrete. Given the site's isolated location, history and soil, the agrologist concluded it “would be very difficult to use for farm purposes.”
A Delta staff report noted the city retained its own agrologist to undertake a peer review and it “supports the conclusions of the applicant's agrologist.”
Meanwhile, Tsawwassen Springs got a bit of good news this week when council granted a development variance permit to construct a shed for the golf course operations.
Located along the 52nd Street frontage between the existing driving range and gravel parking area, the 1,882-square-foot shed will have the capacity to store up to 30 golf carts.
