Jump to content

      



























Photo

Richmond halts huge houses on ALR land


  • Please log in to reply
122 replies to this topic

#1 VicHockeyFan

VicHockeyFan
  • Suspended User
  • 52,121 posts

Posted 29 March 2017 - 08:46 PM

 
'The time has come,' City of Richmond puts halt on mega homes on farmland
Richmond city council placed temporary freeze on building permit applications for houses on farmland

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...4046856?cmp=rss


<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#2 Cassidy

Cassidy
  • Banned
  • 2,501 posts
  • LocationVictoria

Posted 30 March 2017 - 08:53 AM

Richmond should make the ban permanent - I don't think anybody was ever "fooled" by what these 12,000+ square foot houses being constructed on Richmond's farmland ever were.

 

If anybody was fooled, then they weren't paying very close attention.

 

If a property is in the agricultural land reserve, then it's farmland and should be preserved exactly as that - farmland ... otherwise there's no point in having an ALR (which I believe is a much needed body, especially here on the coast).

 

The worlds billionaires can build their 20K square foot houses anywhere ... they don't need to build them on what's left of B.C.'s ALR farmland - in Richmond or anywhere else.


  • Danma and nerka like this

#3 VicHockeyFan

VicHockeyFan
  • Suspended User
  • 52,121 posts

Posted 30 March 2017 - 09:55 AM

The worlds billionaires can build their 20K square foot houses anywhere

 

 

I don't think they can though.  Where in Richmond outside of the ALR would you be able to build a 40,000 sq. ft. house?

 

And let's face it, the house only covers a tiny percentage of the ALR lot they are on.  Should we make them have to ride a tractor a minimum of 6 hours per day in order to buy that land?

 

The land clearly has no use as a farm, with or without a big house on it.  I'm not sure what we are doing here with ALR land right in the city.


<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#4 Jackerbie

Jackerbie
  • Member
  • 3,776 posts
  • LocationRichmond, BC

Posted 30 March 2017 - 09:56 AM

Richmond should make the ban permanent - I don't think anybody was ever "fooled" by what these 12,000+ square foot houses being constructed on Richmond's farmland ever were.

 

What, exactly, should Richmond ban? We can't exactly ban Building Permit applications...

 

As of Tuesday next week there will be a moratorium on Building Permit issuance for AG-zoned land. Applications can still be received, but have to be approved by Council, not the Permits department. Legally, the moratorium can only last 90 days until a new Bylaw has to be adopted. If no Bylaw is adopted, the City can be sued for damages by any person who submitted a Building Permit application and had it withheld by Council.


Edited by Jackerbie, 30 March 2017 - 10:01 AM.


#5 Jackerbie

Jackerbie
  • Member
  • 3,776 posts
  • LocationRichmond, BC

Posted 30 March 2017 - 10:01 AM

And let's face it, the house only covers a tiny percentage of the ALR lot they are on.

 

A quirk of Richmond's history is that we have very small agricultural land parcels. Of the 1,369 parcels with road access, 61% are less than a hectare in size. A 12,000 sq. ft. house with two driveways, tennis court, pool, and parking area take up a fair chunk of land on those smaller lots.

Capture.PNG


Edited by Jackerbie, 30 March 2017 - 10:06 AM.

  • VicHockeyFan likes this

#6 dasmo

dasmo

    Grand Master ✔

  • Member
  • 15,073 posts

Posted 30 March 2017 - 10:55 AM

:teacher: GROW FOOD NOT MANSIONS :teacher: 


  • Mike K., VicHockeyFan and Jackerbie like this

#7 nerka

nerka
  • Member
  • 1,236 posts

Posted 30 March 2017 - 11:15 AM

What, exactly, should Richmond ban?

Could ban houses above a certain size on ALR land.  Could also have a fairly strict floor area ratio that would limit big houses on small agricultural lots. All sorts of bylaw options.



#8 VicHockeyFan

VicHockeyFan
  • Suspended User
  • 52,121 posts

Posted 30 March 2017 - 11:19 AM

Could ban houses above a certain size on ALR land.  Could also have a fairly strict floor area ratio that would limit big houses on small agricultural lots. All sorts of bylaw options.

 

But does that make more farmers?  And why do we need more farmers in Richmond?

 

screenshot-oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm-2017-03-30-12-22-39.png

 

rich.PNG


<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#9 Jackerbie

Jackerbie
  • Member
  • 3,776 posts
  • LocationRichmond, BC

Posted 30 March 2017 - 11:30 AM

Could ban houses above a certain size on ALR land.  Could also have a fairly strict floor area ratio that would limit big houses on small agricultural lots. All sorts of bylaw options.

 

FAR is useless due to the huge range of property sizes, so a maximum floor area cap is being considered. A home plate area is another consideration. Both approaches have been used in Metro Vancouver, so we're not trying to break new ground. We're just in the unfortunate position of catching up to the region. This isn't the first time a limit on house size has been considered in Richmond's ALR, it's just the first time Council has stood up to the opposition.

 

But does that make more farmers?  And why do we need more farmers in Richmond?

 

The end goal is keeping farmland accessible to farmers. You're going to need quite the cash crop to make an acquisition cost of $1 million per acre work.


  • rjag likes this

#10 Jackerbie

Jackerbie
  • Member
  • 3,776 posts
  • LocationRichmond, BC

Posted 30 March 2017 - 11:32 AM

Full disclosure: I'm one of the people working on this Bylaw.


  • VicHockeyFan and nerka like this

#11 VicHockeyFan

VicHockeyFan
  • Suspended User
  • 52,121 posts

Posted 30 March 2017 - 11:38 AM

The end goal is keeping farmland accessible to farmers. You're going to need quite the cash crop to make an acquisition cost of $1 million per acre work.

 

OK, that's fair.  But why do we want to keep farmland in Richmond accessible to farmers?  There is plenty of farmland in the province that is not farmed.  In Surrey for example, only a little over 50% of the ALR land is even actively farmed.

 

 http://www.surrey.ca...pment/1432.aspx


<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#12 Cassidy

Cassidy
  • Banned
  • 2,501 posts
  • LocationVictoria

Posted 30 March 2017 - 12:32 PM

I've never met a B.C. farmer who needs, or wants to live in a 15,000 - 20,000 square foot mega-monster house!

 

As to the question above "what do you ban"? ... you ban the construction of mega-monster houses on land that is in the ALR.

If it's land that 's out of the ALR, folks can do whatever they want within the zoning guidelines of whatever community they happen to be building their house in.

 

In other words, you put a stop to the worlds billionaires building mega-monster homes on B.C.'s heritage agricultural land.



#13 VicHockeyFan

VicHockeyFan
  • Suspended User
  • 52,121 posts

Posted 30 March 2017 - 01:16 PM

^ Have you ever seen the average salary in Luxembourg or Monaco?  I wish all the billionaires wanted to live here!

 

https://en.wikipedia...nal)_per_capita


<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#14 jonny

jonny
  • Member
  • 9,211 posts

Posted 30 March 2017 - 01:21 PM

Call me crazy, but I doubt many billionaires live in Richmond...


  • VicHockeyFan likes this

#15 nerka

nerka
  • Member
  • 1,236 posts

Posted 30 March 2017 - 01:35 PM

Full disclosure: I'm one of the people working on this Bylaw.

Well then you hardly need our advice :) Lots of power in the community charter to tackle this in a number of different ways.



#16 Cassidy

Cassidy
  • Banned
  • 2,501 posts
  • LocationVictoria

Posted 30 March 2017 - 01:37 PM

Well, I won't call you crazy ... but Brandt Louie (who owns Richmond based London Drugs) is worth 2.5 billion.

 

BUT ... perhaps my use of "billionaire" is overstated ... I guess though, that anybody who can pay 10 -20 million dollars for a piece of property (actually 23 million is the top price in Richmond currently) definitely doesn't have to take out a mortgage.

Presumably, if you can drop 10-20 million in cash, you'd need cash assets of at least a couple of hundred million to not feel the dent in the bank account ... so let me adjust billionaire to mega-millionaire :)



#17 rjag

rjag
  • Member
  • 6,363 posts
  • LocationSi vis pacem para bellum

Posted 30 March 2017 - 01:38 PM

And yet nobody has mentioned the cultural aspect of large houses on ALR. For lots of East Indian and other Asian families they want to live together in large compound style properties. Having 10-15 bedrooms would be ideal for lots of families. 

 

Not everyone is a secret billionaire out to screw the unwashed masses, talk about jumping to conclusions. There are loads of reasons why someone would want to build a large home like that. Its likely a lot cheaper than building 4-5 homes to accommodate the same amount of people which in turn is less of a footprint on land which frees up more space to actually use the land. Are we not proud to be a multi-cultural society? Or is it only when its is convenient and suits our views?

 

The ALR needs to be looked at and cleaned up. As it is there are lots of parcels that are simply unfarmable and have no economic benefit.


  • sebberry, jonny and Jackerbie like this

#18 jonny

jonny
  • Member
  • 9,211 posts

Posted 30 March 2017 - 01:43 PM

I don't know why British Columbians need to be in each others business so much...I don't care that somebody has a big house in Richmond. Good for them.


  • rjag, sebberry and Matt R. like this

#19 rjag

rjag
  • Member
  • 6,363 posts
  • LocationSi vis pacem para bellum

Posted 30 March 2017 - 01:47 PM

I don't know why British Columbians need to be in each others business so much...I don't care that somebody has a big house in Richmond. Good for them.

 

Agreed, it hearkens back to the old British Unionist attitudes, "if I cant have it then you cant have it" Nobody is allowed to be successful and if they are its probably on the backs of the poor and downtrodden so they should be punished for being more successful than the other guy.

 

I used to remember my old Scottish Granny saying "Don't show the profits, they'll just as soon slit your throat through jealousy"



#20 jonny

jonny
  • Member
  • 9,211 posts

Posted 30 March 2017 - 01:58 PM

Exactly. How is a big house hurting anybody? Is anybody going hungry because some family built a big house in Richmond?



You're not quite at the end of this discussion topic!

Use the page links at the lower-left to go to the next page to read additional posts.
 



0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users