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In circles where people discuss the more arcane points of Vancouver property taxation, community gardens are something of a perennial issue.

A decade ago, critics were raising concerns about the fairness of the system allowing developers to significantly reduce their property taxes by installing plant beds on undeveloped sites, thereby converting them into temporary gardens or parks.

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And new data show how those community gardens have proliferated through Vancouver in the intervening years, to the point where they now sit on land assessed at a combined total of $525 million.

In February 2009, then-COPE Coun. Ellen Woodsworth introduced a motion directing staff to investigate an emerging trend of developers installing gardens on undeveloped properties, to have them reclassified from commercial to “recreational or non-profit” properties.

That reclassification could mean a property tax reduction of more than 70 per cent, Woodsworth’s 2009 motion said, adding: “While gardens fit into an important sustainability mandate, this reclassification may unfairly shift the tax burden to other commercial property owners.”