Despite the land commission saying it’s against exclusion of land on the west side of 105th Avenue in Albion flats, Maple Ridge council is supporting such an option as the future for the area.
A final vote was to take place Tuesday, but council was unanimous Monday in supporting a plan in which Smart Centres and other land owners seek to exclude property from the Agricultural Land Reserve on the west side of 105th – for shopping and light industry.
Staff presented two other options – apply to remove only the land on the east side of 105th Avenue, as supported by the land commission – or seek to remove all of Albion flats from the land reserve, so all of the property along Lougheed Highway can be developed.
“We’re moving forward. We’re further ahead than we were a year ago,” said Mayor Ernie Daykin.
But he said later that if land owners on the west side don’t complete an application within a month, “we’re moving on.” Council has the authority to reject a land-exclusion application, stopping it from even getting to the land commission.
The application must have something that will be of net benefit to agriculture, he added.
Coun. Al Hogarth had similar comments during council’s workshop on Monday, saying his support for the land owners is conditional on what they’re prepared to do for the community.
He added, if any drainage improvements to improve soil have to be done, it won’t be at the district’s cost.
Once the ALC makes a decision, the district will follow with its own exclusion application for the east side of 105th Avenue.
Hogarth wanted a commitment from the land owners to have an application within two or three months, otherwise, “they’re on their own.”
The District of Maple Ridge has been considering the fate of Albion flats since 1999-2000, when the Agricultural Land Commission said it would consider removing land from the east side of 105th Avenue.
Most of the land that Smart Centres, a mall development company, owns in Albion flats is on the west side of 105th Avenue.
The land commission said last fall that land on the west side of 105th Avenue should remain farmland, while giving tacit approval for excluding the east side.
The commission was commenting on Maple Ridge’s draft plan, calling for development of all of the flat’s 105 hectares. About 60 hectares are on the east side of 105th Avenue.
The option council supports also gives it the ability to fine tune its own application for the east side of 105th Avenue, once the ALC rules on the private application for the west side.
The option selected by council could delay decisions for the area by a few extra months, compared to the timeline of Maple Ridge simply applying to exclude land from the east side.
A decision from the ALC on the latter could come by next September.
But if a private application is submitted this February and March, with an ALC decision coming in July or August, then Maple Ridge will have to wait until October before filing its own application for the east side of 105th, with an ALC decision expected late this year.
It’s worth waiting the extra few months, said Coun. Judy Dueck. If the land commission reverses its position and approves exclusion, then the district won’t have to pay for drainage improvements required to improve the land for farming.
And without the investors putting up money to build what Maple Ridge wants, “it’s not going to happen anyways.”
Coun. Cheryl Ashlie questioned the land commission’s request for an agricultural remedial plan, pointing out no other municipalities have been required to do that.
She said the ALC report saying that agri-industries don’t want to locate in Albion flats vindicates council’s position in calling for mixed development rather than scenarios which envisioned areas for agri-industrial uses such as small livestock operations, an agricultural research institute, small farms and a compost plant.
Those scenarios, created from last year’s community input process, wouldn’t have attracted investment dollars. “That land would have sat vacant as it is today if we had gone with those.”
Nevertheless, the consultation gave council community input which it incorporated into its overall plan for Albion flats. “We still took what they gave us. We just reconfigured it.”
Blake Hudema, with Genstar Development and who is partnering with Steve and John Wynnyk, who own the fields on the west side of 105th Avenue, pointed out no one has ever presented an exclusion application to the land commission for the area.
“We love to see a broad range of uses.” There’s a tremendous opportunity for working, living and playing in the area, he added.
After the ALC decision in November, Daykin said the district can proceed “with greater certainty and clarity. The ALC has done their job, now council will do ours,” the mayor said.