A crowd of more than 60 Richmond residents gathered outside Richmond’s city council chambers February 26 to deliver a petition requesting limits to mega-homes on the ALR.
Approximately 5,500 signed the petition, which called upon council to reduce home sizes on the ALR to a maximum of 5,382 sq. feet and place a moratorium on new applications until the new home size is adopted as a bylaw.
I’m really happy with how many people came,” Kelly Greene, one of the organizers of the petition and rally, told Richmond News. “We’re hoping (council) takes very seriously how much Richmond residents care about farmland.”
Greene, who ran in the last provincial election, was joined by Jack Trovato to deliver the petition. Both Greene and Trovato presented an early version of the petition to council last November, when it had 3,000 signatures. They have since closed the petition after going door to door, talking to people on the street downtown and sharing the petition on social media.
“We were trying to update council of some of the feedback we were getting. We’ve never had a petition with such a vigorously positive response,” Greene said about her November presentation to council.
Trovato presented the completed petition during the council meeting, along with 48 pages of more than 700 comments. He explained to council that ALR properties are particularly valuable because, in B.C., only five per cent of the the landmass is farmable due to the province’s mountainous terrain.
"We cannot be complacent while our farms are turned into estate properties," he said in his presentation to council. “Swift action must be taken to prevent people from taking advantage of farming incentives meant for people who are actually contributing to the farming industry.”
The petition’s proposed maximum home size follows provincial guidelines. However, some council members felt that limiting only the size of a house wasn't enough.
For example, Mayor Malcolm Brodie suggested the entire farm home plate needs restrictions. This "home plate" is defined by the city as "including the principal dwelling unit, any residential accessory buildings or residential accessory structures, including the driveway, decorative lawns and landscaping, artificial ponds and sewerage septic tanks, in one contiguous area."
“To focus just on house size is avoiding a lot of the point,” Brodie said during the council meeting. “It’s a more complex issue than just saying 5,300 square feet, make that the max, it’s not addressing the question in my mind if you’re trying to maximize farming.”
Recently, the city underwent its own public consultation process to review options to further limit the house size, farm home plate and to consider a maximum house footprint limit on agricultural properties half an acre or larger. The city is in the process of compiling that feedback for review.
