Delta council has approved the controversial Southlands development in Tsawwassen, but the 30-year-old battle appears far from over as those opposed to the move say they have already started lobbying the Metro Vancouver board to reject it. The contentious plan, which was passed 6-1 Friday by Delta council, requires a two-thirds weighted vote by Metro Vancouver to proceed. This is because the 217-hectare Southlands parcel — the site of the former Spetifore Farm — is outside Delta's designated urban containment boundary, which prescribes where development can and cannot be built. "I really do hope if it goes ahead that people will be able to heal," Delta Mayor Lois Jackson said. Coun. Sylvia Bishop was the lone councillor opposed to the development by Century Group, which calls for 950 townhomes, cottages, small family homes and a farmers market. It is the latest of eight development applications for the Southlands property, which lies between Boundary Bay Regional Park and the U.S. border. The new plan proposes less than half of the original 1,950 dwellings sought in 2009 by the developer. Century has also offered to provide $9 million to Delta for drainage and irrigation work. Bishop argued Delta has already allowed too much farmland to disappear, and council should be looking at preserving what it has left. "The land is farmland whether it's actively farmed or not," she said before the vote. "We can build more homes through densification or infill but we can't get more farmland." But her council colleagues countered that Delta is expected to grow by another 20,000 people in the next 15 years and it needs to provide housing for them. Councillors also maintained the plan allows for small farms for young farmers who can't afford to set up on their own, and puts most of land under Delta's control. They also pointed out past developments on farmland, such as Captain Cove Marina, have benefited the community. "The number 1 thing I hate is looking at fallow land completely overgrown with blackberries and thistles," said Coun. Ian Paton. "That land can be put in good farmland but we have to find a way to do it." Coun. Scott Hamilton said 81 hectares of Southlands was farmed last year but not harvested because the land needs work to make it viable. The Southlands plan, he said, is the "best compromise" to heal the divisive community. The development has been dogged by controversy, sparking the longest public hearing in Canadian history in 1989 and a failed attempt by Delta to have the land put back in the Agricultural Land Reserve. The land was removed from the ALR in 1981, not by the Agricultural Land Commission but in a decision of the Social Credit government of the day, though it is still zoned for agricultural use by the Corporation of Delta. About 40 hectares of the land is used for growing potatoes and barley. Now Delta, or the developer, can apply to Metro Vancouver to amend the agriculture designation to general urban and pull the land into the prescribed urban containment boundary. Metro directors, however, must approve the amendment by a two-thirds weighted vote after holding a public hearing on the issue. This means Vancouver alone could kill the project if it votes against it because it has a huge share, about 35 per cent, of the weighted vote on Metro.

Metro board chairman Greg Moore noted there will be directors around the table who are opposed to removing any agricultural land but said Metro has to consider the project in terms of the regional context, and what it will mean to other municipalities in Metro Vancouver. "We're looking at it in a different lens. We're not here to second guess the local council's decision on land use," Moore said. "When we're talking about removing agricultural or industrial land, what will that mean for the rest of the region?" He noted there have been situations in the past where Metro has allowed amendments to remove agricultural land from the growth strategy, such as the Jackson Farm property in Maple Ridge and the Tsawwassen Springs development in Delta, although both of these projects were under the previous Livable Region Strategy, not the RGS. On the other hand, the Metro Vancouver board has refused to allow Langley Township to designate a four-hectare section of agricultural land in North Murrayville for urban development, saying such a move would set a dangerous precedent for other municipalities. Langley Township also unsuccessfully sought to change another eight-hectare area of North Murrayville from agricultural to "general urban," which was outlined in its Official Community Plan in 1979. Metro's regional growth strategy aims to "protect the supply of agricultural land and promote agricultural viability with an emphasis on food production." The strategy is aimed at providing a framework for development through to 2040, when the region expects to see another one million people and 600,000 new jobs. Two-thirds of growth is expected to be contained in urban centres with protective pockets of agricultural and industrial land and mixed-use developments. Developer Sean Hodgins acknowledged the Southlands project has divided the populace in Tsawwassen and said he has worked hard to come up with a plan "that would benefit everybody in the community." "I think the project will stand the test of time," Hodgins said after the vote. "I'm just happy they voted as they did. I feel very positive we can go through with it." The decision drew cheers and applause from those in favour, but those opposed proclaimed the vote showed democracy in Delta was dead. Bill Roberts, who has lived in Tsawwassen since 1980, said he is concerned the development will be built on a floodplain despite the fact "the Big One" is about to strike, and could be followed by a tsunami. "The developer has been able to organize a whole lot of people because, quite frankly, he's got the money," Roberts said. "The new people who haven't been here long are the ones who don't really realize what we are losing . . . It's not a good day." Doug Massey, a former councillor, said he has already sent a letter to Metro Vancouver, and expects more people to follow suit, in a bid to convince the board to reject the Southlands proposal. Opponents have argued the move would pave over desperately needed agricultural land, increase traffic, overwhelm the local shopping centre and build homes on a known flood plain and wetland habitat.