By Dana Maslovat - April 8, 2010 - Hundreds of Tsawwassen residents turned out again to a Tsawwassen Area Plan public information meeting on Tuesday night to voice their concerns regarding a potential re-designation of the Southlands agricultural land to accommodate a contentious housing development. This meeting followed a controversial 3 hour meeting on March 31, which forced Delta municipal officials to acknowledge the significant flaws in their survey questions and their meeting format.
Delta bent to the will of the people and arranged for 2 open-mic meetings on April 6 & 8, something residents have been demanding since the start of the discussions dealing with the Southlands redesignation from agricultural to urban land.
The April 6th open-mic meeting saw residents lining up before the doors were open so they could speak to the issue that has become the major focal point being examined by the Tsawwassen Area Plan Committee.
Residents were given 3 minutes to speak and an overwhelming majority of residents spoke against any redesignation and development of the Southlands. One resident, who asked Delta staff why they had to keep coming back to meeting after meeting to say no to development on farmland, was greeted by sustained and enthusiastic applause. By the end of the 2 hour meeting 33 residents had spoken, with more left on the list to speak - 26 residents spoke against development, 6 for and 1 undetermined.
Any redesignation will change the Official Community Plan and open up the Southlands for a 1900 unit housing development by Century Holdings. This piece of farmland was the cause of the longest public hearing in Commonwealth history and a resident run plebiscite in 1989, which prevented a 2000 unit development that was proposed for the same property.
Another open-mic meetings will be held in Tsawwassen on Thursday, April 8 at the South Delta Recreation Center at 6:30 PM.
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