Vancouver Sun, p.A7, “11th- hour meeting to rally citizens against urban sprawl”

[Readers, expect a lot of new material today on CityHallWatch.]
13 Jan 2011The Vancouver Sun
BY KELLY SINOSKIVANCOUVER SUN
A citizens’ group will hold an emergency meeting tonight to raise critical concerns about Metro Vancouver’s regional growth strategy, saying they fear it will lead to more urban sprawl and wipe out farmland.
The meeting comes just hours before Metro Vancouver is set to vote Friday morning on the long-awaited plan, which has been in the works since 2002.
“The idea is to put it out there for the record,” said Randy Helten, spokesman for City Hall Watch, which has organized the meeting for 7 p. m. at the Vancouver Public LIbrary’s central branch.
We’re just showing [ that] 99 per cent of the public didn’t know anything that’s going on … the countdown is on.”
Helten argues the new strategy will promote urban sprawl into green zones such as the Agricultural Land Reserve, conservation lands and rural areas.
The initial expectation was that under the plan, all parks and agricultural land would be included in green zones, which would be outside the urban containment zones and protected from development. However, they are now rolled into an “urban containment boundary” rather than being kept outside it, which some say could open to the door to development.
About seven parcels of agricultural land are in “special study zones,” which could mean their potential removal from the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Helten is calling for the Metro board, which represents the region’s 22 municipalities, and the Tsawwassen First Nation, to delay the vote until there has been more public consultation.
Several residents spoke out against the plan during public hearings, voicing similar concerns about the loss of farmland and the change in designation for parks and green space.
Richmond Coun. Harold Steves, who opposes the plan, said the inclusion of Agricultural Land Reserve land in “study areas” could open the door for more development in municipalities at a time when Metro Vancouver is trying to preserve farmland. The ultimate decision, he notes, rests with the Agriculture Land Reserve.
“What concerns me about it is we’re watering down the green zone,” Steves said. “We need to have more agricultural land, not less.”
Steves noted that under the proposed plan, municipalities will only require 50 per cent of the Metro board’s vote to get properties out of the green zone, compared to two-thirds of the vote now.
Steves said staff argued that study areas will give municipalities more autonomy, but he argued there is nothing to stop future councils from developing those properties.
“Nobody has told us what the intent of this is … taking a golf course and park and making them urban,” he said.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said the Westview Golf Course isn’t likely to be shut down and developed, noting it’s “a jewel” of the city and the plan aims to contain urban development. But, like Steves, he has his reservations about the plan. He said that while he believes there’s a significant role for regional planning, not all of his council agrees.
Tonight’s meeting will be held in the Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Room at the library, 7 to 8 pm.