Langley Township council voted five-to-four against the first step in the possible removal of an Aldergrove property from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR).
At the Monday, Dec. 2 meeting, council was asked to endorse a land exclusion application for the site of Clearview Horticultural Products, a greenhouse operation in the 26300-block of 56 Avenue.
According to Clearview's application, and an appeal by the owner early in Monday's meeting, the reconstruction of the nearby 264 Street highway interchange will make getting in and out of their site much more difficult for customers.
In response, the owners are asking for the site to be removed from the ALR altogether, for future "commercial or industrial uses" that won't require the same level of vehicle access. Truck parking, which is in short supply in the Lower Mainland, was suggested.
Council members had a number of questions about the project, but none offered an outright endorsement of removing the land from the ALR. The land reserve was created to protect farmland from development more than 40 years ago.
Instead, council split on whether or not they should pass the matter along to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) at all.
The ALC can – but rarely does – remove land from the ALR, but getting an application for a land removal in front of the commission requires approval from the municipal government where the land sits.
If the ALC removed the land, the Township would still have the right to decide on zoning. The land is currently designated for rural or farm uses in both the Township's zoning scheme and in Metro Vancouver's land use plans.
Councillor Steve Ferguson was against moving forward at all to the ALC.
"I'd have a hard time supporting this," he said, saying he believed in protecting farmland.
Coun. Tim Baillie had some concerns about truck parking, noting the site is right on the corner of 56 Avenue and 264 Street, and access for cars is difficult now.
The councillors who were in favour of moving forward asked several times about whether they would still have control over the land use and zoning even if the ALC chose to exclude the land from the ALR.
In the end, the council voted against endorsing the application to the ALC, five to four, with Mayor Eric Woodward joining the majority.
Woodward said if the council was looking at excluding ALR land, it should be done based on a policy.
"It shouldn't be a one-off, it should be equal opportunity for all," Woodward said.
The site is across the highway from the Gloucester Industrial Estates, a large industrial park that was removed from the ALR decades ago.
