Loosening the leash
3
13 areas where dogs can soon roam free
Fraudulent request Grandma asked to send bail money
12
Jazzing it up
Annual fest features eight performances
20
Optimist
Mound of talent
Ladner pitcher turning heads on both sides of the border
Delta
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YOUR SOURCE FOR LOCAL SPORTS, NEWS, WEATHER AND ENTERTAINMENT! WWW.DELTA-OPTIMIST.COM The Voice of Delta since 1922 SATURDAY, JULY 3, 2010
25
Outdoor concerts
See Page 24
Deltans get patriotic on Canada Day PHOTOS BY
CHUNG CHOW
Canada Day was celebrated on several fronts in South Delta Thursday, including at the Delta Museum and Archives where four-year-old Alec Dyer (left) checked out his maple leaf. Laurine Dane (below) cut the cake at the party in Tsawwassen’s Diefenbaker Park. More Canada Day photos on Page 19 and at www.delta-optimist.com.
ROW sales near halfway mark B.C. Hydro has sold or has offers on 45 of the 104 homes it bought along power lines corridor in Tsawwassen BY
SANDOR GYARMATI
sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com
B.C. Hydro is steadily approaching the halfway mark in the sale of homes on the Tsawwassen right-of-way. The Crown corporation has now listed 63 of the 104 homes it owns on the power lines corridor. So far, 45 have been sold or have offers. B.C. Hydro has been marketing the properties since last September. “We are going to have our good and bad cycles. We already had a fantastic fall and we were surprised we sold as many as we did,” said spokesperson Susan
Danard. B.C. Hydro purchased the homes last year from residents that didn’t want to live next to the newly upgraded higher voltage power lines. Planning to re-sell all the houses over a two- to threeyear period, Hydro is marketing them as Tsawwassen Heights. The Crown corporation began selling the homes through RE/ MAX and there had been an initial rush of interest, likely from those thinking they could grab a bargain, although only a few sold over the first few weeks. However, sales have been steadily occurring in subsequent months and the inventory has gone down.
Only about a couple dozen homes are listed at any one time. Danard said there are some misconceptions that Hydro has a huge inventory of listed homes when, in fact, it takes care not to flood the market. The current listings include a “Spanish hacienda” on 53A Street for $529,000 to an “executive” home on Cambridge Court for $689,000. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the housing market has begun to cool off after a strong rebound. Danard said B.C. Hydro anticipated ebbs and See HOMES page 3
PHOTO BY
SANDOR GYARMATI
B.C. Hydro usually has about two dozen right-of-way homes on the market at any one time.
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