MARCH 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


15 Pressures increasing as developers scramble for land


Local governments north of Fraser eyeing farmland


by PETER MITHAM MAPLE RIDGE – BC’s Lower


Mainland is a land divided, thanks in large part to the creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve following the election of Dave Barrett as premier 45 years ago this year. One of the new


government’s first acts was a freeze on the subdivision of farm properties, and a few months later the Agricultural Land Reserve came into being – instantly focusing the longing eyes of developers on what they could no longer have. Conversely, some parcels outside the newly created reserve were being farmed and their zoning for other uses set the stage for an outcry when farming stopped and other activities began. The latest flashpoint is


north of the Fraser in the municipalities of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, where plans are afoot to develop lands many believe should stay as farmland. The former Pelton lands in


Maple Ridge sits within the Agricultural Land Reserve and repeated bids to remove it for development have met opposition from council. Now, Aquilini Investment


Group has received approval to proceed with public consultations on the future of the site, an initiative set to heat up this spring. An online petition has garnered close to 1,300 signatures opposing the project but has seen little activity since last fall. Aquilini’s consultations will seek public feedback on plans to redevelop the site with film studios and a hotel for what Aquilini calls “a well-known and established film production studio.” The project will create 3,300 jobs on completion and 500 jobs in the interim – far more than the former nursery site currently employs. Documents provided to


Maple Ridge staff claim that greenhouse vegetable production isn’t sustainable on the site, with one grower seeking to relocate and growth of another limited by local water supplies. The majority of the greenhouse production on site – 18 acres – is for bedding plants and cedars. Adjacent parcels are used


for dairy and forage production, as well as Asian vegetables, and won’t be affected, Aquilini claims. Aquilini’s bid to exclude the


lands for development will include a proposal to swap in a greater acreage, ensuring that the release of land is


more than offset by the inclusion of productive land. “As farmers, we have the


expertise and experience to guarantee that the new ALR inclusion lands are farmed, thus improving net overall food output,” Aquilini, one the province’s largest berry growers, has told Maple Ridge. (Aquilini did not respond to


a request for comment from Country Life in BC.)


Light industrial park Meanwhile, in Pitt


Meadows, Onni Group is pursuing expansion of Golden Ears Business Park, a light industrial project that has enjoyed significant success. Many local residents have told the city they believe the development will negatively impact adjacent residential developments as well as eliminate potential farmland from ever being farmed. The properties aren’t in the ALR and account for just 0.6% of the local agricultural land base. They’re designated for industrial development within both the Pitt Meadows community plan and Metro Vancouver’s regional growth strategy. With growing populations, securing jobs space for local residents is important to mayors such as Maple Ridge’s Nicole Read, who told commercial real estate


FILE PHOTO


association NAIOP last fall that she believes such projects are critical to her community’s future. “We’re very interested in


converting land to commercial-industrial,” she said. “[We] will engage our community on how important it is to make sure that we create more commercial and industrial lands.” It sounds like a


confrontational statement, but in the context of where industrial development can occur in the Lower Mainland,


it’s also true. A 1999 agreement between


Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. allows the companies to share tracks between Matsqui and Nepa, just south of Ashcroft. Trains heading east from Vancouver travel on CP tracks while westbound traffic uses CN tracks. This has largely limited the development of major logistics facilities to areas west of Matsqui; areas east of the junction typically see uses that aren’t related to the port,


such as manufacturing and storage.


Increased pressure


This has boosted pressure on farmers in Richmond, Delta and Surrey, especially since the South Fraser Perimeter Road opened in 2013. Half of all new industrial space in Metro Vancouver is now being developed in Delta and Surrey, CBRE Ltd. senior vice- president Chris MacCauley recently reported in a


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