Skip to content

MK Delta Lands project on council agenda soon

DELTA - Council will finally consider the MK Delta Lands housing development proposal early next year.

 

It's been a long, winding road for the major housing and commercial plan near Burns Bog in North Delta, but a formal application submitted months ago is expected to be at the council table by the start of 2015.

 

That's when civic politicians will either give preliminary approval and send it to a public hearing or tell the developer to go back to the drawing board.

 

Deputy planning director Marcy Sangret said the most recent conceptual plan, available for viewing on the Corporation of Delta website, is at the stage where civic staff members are working with the applicant to address technical issues and studies.

 

Noting it will likely be January when the application goes to council, MK Delta Lands spokesperson Teresa Cooper said the public would have more opportunities for feedback.

 

"Once we get first and second reading, then we'd start with more open houses and more community consultation," she said.

 

Located on the east side of Highway 91 between 64th and 72nd avenues, the proposal features 450 townhomes and up to 650 condos. The commercial area would have a maximum of 130,000 square feet of retail, including a grocery store.

 

An original plan for the 36-hectare (89-acre) site was much bigger but was subsequently scaled back. The proposal now at the staff level is a third version, containing more housing units and less commercial space than the second version.

 

The site is zoned industrial with permitted uses that include peat extraction.

 

The Burns Bog Conservation Society continues to lobby against development at the site, having gathered almost 1,800 signatures through an online petition. The society says there are many concerns, including the loss of habitat for rare and endangered animals. It says the development will negatively impact the conservation area.

 

sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com