Dear Editor,
Earlier this week, Richmond City Council voted in favour of home sizes that are more than double the maximum size recommended by the Agricultural Land Commission and more than triple the size of permitted in Richmond’s urban areas.
The ALC states that residential homes on ALR lands should not exceed the sizing of homes on adjacent urban areas in order to limit speculation, preserve farmland, and keep farmland “affordable.”
By not following ALC recommendations for bylaws means that Richmond council is creating its own rules and blatantly defying the ALC’s premise and purpose. It means that council is not only creating a draw for investors to buy up ALR lands, but it is, indeed, creating an unequal society with unequal rules. Councillors are creating even more hostility in our city as they pit urban vs. rural (or those living on ALR lands), culture against culture, and creating a two-tiered system where money talks.
Is this surprising? No.
But does this go against the ALC? Does it go against official community plans? Does it fly in the face of sustainability? Yes.
As the Port of Vancouver assures us that we can’t feed ourselves and must ship food from China, as the government takes more land out of production with a massive bridge and as we let speculators buy up precious ALR lands and build monster homes, no, we won’t be able to feed ourselves.
Sustainability in Richmond is becoming a joke, where money talks every time. Even more disappointing is a provincial government that doesn’t actually work to preserve farmland and our shared future.
Michelle Li
Richmond
