Proposed industrial park by Burns Bog faces key Metro Vancouver vote

After three years of planning, a controversial industrial park proposed for Delta, B.C., is set to face its most critical vote. 

Metro Vancouver's Regional Planning Committee has approved moving forward a development application by the MK Delta Lands Group to a full board vote. 

The industrial park would be situated on 63 hectares of land at the northeast edge of the Burns Bog Ecological Conservancy Area, a sprawling peat bog home to hundreds of species. 

Delta city council has voted in favour of moving the project along, but because the area is outside Metro Vancouver's Urban Containment Boundary, it requires regional approval. 

"The location of the site is ideal," said Marcy Sangret, Delta's director of community planning and development, in her presentation to the committee.

"There are other highway improvements planned … that will provide further free-flow movement of goods throughout the region, and this site is ideally able to take advantage of that."

Land-swap proposal

MK Delta Lands, which owns around 200 hectares of land surrounding the bog, has proposed giving the rest of its property to the City of Delta for conservation if the industrial park is approved.

That land swap was a key reason why Metro Vancouver staff recommended approval, said James Stiver, its manager of growth management.

"[We] thought this was a net gain to the region," he said, though acknowledging that "there are considerations to the trade that meant recommendations were a little challenging to arrive at."

In addition, MK Delta Lands would give the city $6 million for drainage and irrigation improvements in the area if the deal is approved.

Sangret said the additional industrial land would benefit the entire region, and argued the city is committed to the long-term preservation of Burns Bog.

"Protection of Burns Bog is very important to us locally, and a number of steps have been taken to ensure that," she said.

'Destroying habitat'

But the project has long been opposed by the Burns Bog Conservation Society.

"You're destroying habitat for various endangered species. You are destroying the ability for the bog to continue to function. Every time you take away a piece of Burns Bog, you're reducing its ability to survive," said society president Eliza Olson.

She argued that MK Delta Lands should donate the land to the city or the municipal government, and hopes that Metro Vancouver won't approve the required change to its regional growth strategy. 

"I hope they will not pass this, and I hope they will have a sober second thought at this because there is no way that Metro Vancouver, Delta, the province and the federal government can meet its goals by continually destroying active peat lands and turning them into industrial sites," she said.

What comes next?

The project, which has already been given conditional approval by the Agricultural Land Commission, now heads to a full vote by the Metro Vancouver board at the end of the month. If successful, it would also require a final approval by Delta's council.

"I'm worried that without …  understanding the tradeoffs and the quality of the land taken out and what we're getting in return, it's going to cause some challenges," said Regional Planning Committee member and Anmore Mayor John McEwen, who suggested the proposal would have benefited from a look by the regional parks committee first. 

But Maple Ridge Mayor Judy Dueck said it was important for the Metro Vancouver board to respect the wishes of the local municipality. 

"I think it's important to support the mayor and City of Delta in this matter," she said.

"We come around the table to look at what's best for the region as a whole, but we also have to consider what individuals face in their own communities."