Date:

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Place:

Anderson Room

Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt, Chair

Councillor Bill McNulty, Vice-Chair

Councillor Linda Barnes (arrived at 4:03 p.m.)

Councillor Sue Halsey-Brandt

Councillor Harold Steves (arrived at 4:04 p.m.)

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

MINUTES

1.

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on Tuesday, February 17, 2009, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING DATE

2.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Tuesday, March 17, 2009, at 4:00 p.m. in the Anderson Room.

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

3.

APPLICATION BY JUDE AND LILLIAN REMEDIOS FOR REZONING AT 4440 NO. 4 ROAD FROM SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING DISTRICT, SUBDIVISION AREA F (R1/F) AND 4433 FISHER DRIVE FROM SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING DISTRICT, SUBDIVISION AREA B (R1/B) TO SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING DISTRICT, SUBDIVISION AREA C (R1/C)

(RZ 08-442356 - Report: February 12, 2009, File No.:  12-8060-20-8448,) (REDMS No. 2523869, 2573726)

Brian J. Jackson, Director of Development advised that staff supports the application as it complies with: (i) the West Cambie Area Plan, and (ii) all applicable policies and land use designations.

Peter Gee addressed Committee, and advised that he represented the homeowners at   4440 No. 4 Road. Mr. Gee expressed concern that access from No. 4 Road to the homeowner’s property would be limited if rezoning application number 08-442356 was successful.

Mr. Gee questioned whether an opportunity existed to discuss the terms of the servicing agreement.

Mr. Jackson stated that, in light of Mr. Gee’s comments, staff would discuss the right of way issue further with the applicant.

It was moved and seconded

That Bylaw No. 8448, for the rezoning of 4440 No. 4 Road from “Single-Family Housing District, Subdivision Area F (R1/F)” and 4433 Fisher Drive from “Single-Family Housing District, Subdivision Area B (R1/B)” to “Single-Family Housing District, Subdivision Area C (R1/C)”, be referred back to staff.

CARRIED

4.

APPLICATION BY BALBIR K. PUREWAL FOR REZONING AT 5151/5171 MERGANSER DRIVE FROM SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING DISTRICT, SUBDIVISION AREA E (R1/E) TO SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING DISTRICT, SUBDIVISION AREA C (R1/C)

(RZ 08-447003- Report:  February 12, 2009, File No.:  12-8060-20-8476) (REDMS No. 2573316, 2574933)

It was moved and seconded

That Bylaw No. 8476, for the rezoning of 5151/5171 Merganser Drive from “Single-Family Housing District, Subdivision Area E (R1/E)” to “Single-Family Housing District, Subdivision Area C (R1/C)”, be introduced and given first reading.

CARRIED

5.

AGRICULTURAL LAND RESERVE NON-FARM USE APPLICATION BY OCEAN SPRAY OF CANADA LTD. FOR NON-FARM USE AT LOTS 61 TO 70 SECTION 4 BLOCK 4 NORTH RANGE 4 WEST NWD PLAN 1593 (5700 DHILLON WAY)

REQUESTED AMENDMENT TO THE FRASER SEWERAGE BOUNDARY AREA – LOTS 61 TO 70 SECTION 4 BLOCK 4 NORTH RANGE 4 WEST NWD PLAN 1593

(AG 08-407180 Report:  February 23, 2009, File No.: AG 08-407180)  (REDMS No. 2577888, 2570103)

Mr. Jackson stated that the application by Ocean Spray of Canada Ltd. (OSC) does not involve taking property out of the Agriculture Land Reserve. He added that the OSC application comprised two components:

the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) non-farm use application; and

• a

the request to Metro Vancouver’s Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District (GVS&DD) Board for a proposed amendment to the Fraser Sewerage Area (FSA) boundary.

Discussion ensued between staff and Committee on the following points:

the request by OSC to amend the existing Fraser Sewerage Area (FSA) boundary in order to enable the proposed site of a new OSC facility to be serviced by a public sanitary sewer system;

a variety of wastewater discharge options were explored by City staff, and by engineers for OSC; the proposed facility requires service by a public sanitary sewer system;

transportation staff has undertaken a traffic impact study in the area of Dhillon Way and Highway 91 and will continue to work with OSC with regard to transportation issues in the area;

whether the proposed facility, on land zoned Agricultural Uses, represents non-farm use buildings encroaching into the City’s farmland;

the unopened road allowance to the north of Dhillon Way, along the western boundary of the site, would be opened and utilized for access purposes for vehicles delivering cranberries;

Richberry Farms Ltd. currently owns the site of the proposed new OSC facility, and Richberry Farms has confirmed that as part of the agreement for OSC to purchase the site from Richberry Farms, Richberry Farms will obtain ownership of the existing OSC processing facility at 5400 No. 6 Road; and

the proposed new OSC facility meets the City’s requirements.

The Chair invited the following OSC representatives to address Committee: (i) Joseph Benevides, Manager, Project Engineering and (ii) Robert Mullennix, Senior Manager, both from OSC’s Massachusetts facility, and (iii) Rick Ball, Receiving Station Manager at OSC’s Richmond facility.

Mr. Benevides reviewed key factors in the requirement for a new receiving and processing facility. In further remarks he highlighted the following:

OSC has operated its No. 6 Road facility for over 20 years, and during that time the company undertook numerous expansions at the site; OSC anticipates further growth in the cranberry sector of Richmond’s agriculture industry; the existing facility has a number of capacity constraints that cannot be remedied on the existing site and this led to OSC’s search for a new site in Richmond;

after an extensive search over several years for available land to acquire in Richmond, OSC entered into negotiations with Richberry Farms for the lots on Dhillon Way;

site services for the operation are imperative; the new facility will be dedicated to receiving and processing cranberries from September through to mid-November, the length of the cranberry harvest season, with administrative offices functioning all year around;

OSC desires to remain close to the current growing areas in order to lessen the necessity for truckers to travel long distances to deliver cranberries;

after OSC examined options on how to discharge wastewater, the only viable option was that the wastewater from the proposed facility be treated through an on-site wastewater treatment facility and discharged to the municipal sanitary sewer;

the land use proposal was forwarded to the Richmond Agricultural Advisory Committee (RAAC) in April, 2008 for comment, and the Richmond Economic Advisory Committee (REAC) reviewed the proposal in June; the RAAC endorsed the non-farm use application for the new cranberry facility, and the REAC supported the relocation of the cranberry facility to the Dhillon Way location.

Mr. Mullennix made additional comments with regard to the use of water by OSC:

the cranberry business is a seasonal one and runs six weeks a year, shutting down in mid-November, so there is no discharge during the heavy rain season;

the current OSC site on No. 6 Road is within an existing sewerage area and has the appropriate permits to discharge wastewater into the public sanitary sewer system;

OSC’s examination of discharge options negated the use of storm sewers due to regulations, and treating wastewater through a biological process is not viable;

OSC sought the advice of Metro Vancouver’s Liquid Waste Advisory Committee, as well as input from the Annis Island waste treatment facility, and the information received was that runoff from the cranberry industry is so readily biodegradable, that wastewater runoff is insignificant.

Discussion ensued between Committee and the OSC representatives regarding:

OSC settled on the Dhillon Way site after considering other sites that ultimately were found to be unacceptable for OSC’s needs;

if the current application is not successful; OSC will look at other opportunities both within and beyond Richmond including anywhere within reasonable driving distance for cranberry growers;

the anticipated increase in capacity for the proposed new facility is an immediate increase of 50%, with the ability to expand the facility and increase capacity in the future;

there is no plan to create a road around the perimeter of the proposed site, only to extend Dhillon Road a short distant north, to the second driveway;

in Richmond, cranberry harvesting accounts for 37% of total agricultural crops produced in the City; approximately 1,977 acres of Richmond land is in cranberry production and this represents 47% of BC’s total cranberry production acreage; of the 70 contracts OSC has with BC growers, approximately 35 are in Richmond.

In response to a query regarding whether the City can block the north end of Dhillon Way to prevent road extension, Mr. Jackson advised that: (i) it could be done as long as the blockage allows both an entrance and an egress, (ii) Dhillon Way can be stopped before it meets the other east/west road allowance, and (iii) these can be a condition of rezoning.

He added that the land to the north of Dhillon Way has a covenant that restricts activity on the land to agriculture use only.

In response to a further query regarding zoning of the lots surrounding the OSC’s proposed site, staff advised that all the lots are within the ALR.  It was clarified that the 10 lots in question will be consolidated into one lot that would be in the ALR. In addition the surrounding lots to the north, east and west of the site are used for agricultural activities.

Joe Erceg, General Manager, Planning and Development advised that the site OSC wishes to occupy is within the ALR, and at present is zoned Golf Course District zone (AG2), but if OSC’s application is successful, a new Comprehensive Development District zone would be required for the site.

Bruce May, 5220 No. 8 Road, addressed committee and spoke in support of OSC’s application. He noted that:

at its current No. 6 Road site OSC has no room to expand its activities;

the application is a way to keep the land located at Dhillon Way in the ALR, and to keep the land viable for agriculture;

cranberry farmers would be able to deliver their fruit more effectively to the proposed site than they can to OSC’s current No. 6 Road site;

in comparison to the closed golf driving range course that occupies the Dhillon Way site at present, OSC’s proposed new cranberry receiving and processing facility is an improvement;

he supports agricultural viability, and OSC’s proposed new facility supports agricultural viability in Richmond; and

he believes that the Dhillon Way site is the most suitable location for the proposed new OSC facility, and he noted that the City maintains control over zoning of the site.

In closing, Mr. May advised that many of Richmond’s cranberry farmers were in attendance at the meeting. The Chair invited the farmers to show their hands, and then noted that she agreed with Mr. May, that agricultural viability was important to the City and recognized that the cranberry farmers represented at the meeting were young farmers. 

It was moved and seconded

That:

(1)

 authorization for Ocean Spray of Canada Ltd. to apply to the Agricultural Land Commission for a non-farm use for the purposes of developing a cranberry receiving and processing facility at Lots 61 to 70 Section 4 Block 4 North Range 4 West NWD Plan 1593 (5700 Dhillon Way) and utilize the existing opened road (Dhillon Way) and portions of the unopened road allowance located along the western property line of Lot 61 for access purposes be granted.

(2)

City staff be authorized to request the Administration Board of the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District to amend the Fraser Sewerage Area Boundary to include Lots 61 to 70 Section 4 Block 4 North Range 4 West NWD Plan 1593.

The question on the motion was not called as a comment was made that staff could explore: (i) placing a covenant on OSC’s current site, and (ii) not extending Metro Vancouver’s sewerage area boundary.

A brief discussion ensued and Mr. Jackson advised that a covenant on the No. 6 Road site required the owner’s compliance and that staff would explore the idea and submit a memorandum of information to Council before the Monday, May 9, 2009 Council meeting.

The Chair remarked that agricultural viability is important to Richmond and that OSC’s application is conducive to the City’s support of agricultural viability.

The question on the motion was then called and it was CARRIED, with Councillor Harold Steves opposed.

The Chair directed staff to prepare a memo to Council, for distribution before the Monday, May 9, 2009 Council meeting, addressing:

(i)

the feasibility of a restrictive covenant registered on 5400 No. 6 Road to ensure its future use for agriculture purposes only; and

(ii)

not extending Metro Vancouver’s sewerage area boundary.

A comment was made regarding the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA), and its potential impact on the Richmond Public Library (RPL).

In response to a query regarding communication between the City and RPL with regard to TILMA, Mr. Erceg advised that: (i) Business and Financial Services staff are preparing a report on TILMA, and (ii) he would advise the General Manager, Business and Financial Services, to communicate with RPL representatives before the City’s TILMA report is presented to Committee.

6.

MANAGER’S REPORT

(1)

Steveston Study

Mr. Erceg reported that bylaws affiliated with the Steveston Heritage Study would come to Council in April, 2009.

(2)

Official Community Plan (OCP)

Terry Crowe, Manager, Policy Planning advised that staff is conducting background work on the OCP and that in April, 2009, after the City Centre Area Plan is completed, Committee would see a report on the OCP.

(3)

Regional Growth Strategy (RGS)

Mr. Crowe stated that staff is preparing a report to update Council on the status of Metro Vancouver’s RGS.

(4)

Social Planning Strategy

Mr. Crowe remarked that staff is working on background information that will inform the strategy.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (5:21 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Tuesday, March 3, 2009.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt

Chair

Sheila Johnston

Committee Clerk