Getting tougher
Beefed up laws against drunk driving go into effect soon
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Climbing Kilimanjaro
Ladner woman counts down days until her big trip
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Fab five exercises Trainer P.J. Wren offers some of her favourites
Golden results
16
Delta athletes shine at B.C. Summer Games
Optimist
Co-host contest
Delta
Newsstand 50¢
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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 31, 2010
See Page 19
Sun Festival starts today
Fire it up!
The Tsawwassen Sun Festival gets underway today. Activities continue tomorrow and Monday will be the event’s busiest day of the long weekend. There will be a pancake breakfast to get things going while a parade will roll along 56th Street at 11 a.m. and end up at the fairgrounds at Winskill Park. Check out the marketplace for crafts or gifts or kick back and enjoy live music and dancing at the main stage. BMX shows, a petting zoo, a pie-eating contest, as well as gymnastics and martial arts demos are also set for Monday. Celebrating Arts and Culture is this year’s theme for the Sun Festival. Visit www.sunfestival.ca for more information.
PHOTO BY
CHUNG CHOW
Rose Dickson of Mud Girls Natural Building Collective from Nanaimo was busy last Sunday working on a 32-inch cob oven to be used for everything from cooking to firing pottery at Earthwise Garden. Dickson formed the dome with cob, a mixture of mud, clay and straw. On the bench, Rachel (left) and Jane Ivey, visiting from Toronto, got roped into mixing a fresh batch of cob.
SANDOR GYARMATI
The recommendation on the Southlands for the new Tsawwassen Area Plan is for no change to the agricultural designation of the land. It was revealed at the area plan committee’s meeting Thursday at municipal hall that their draft plan will state the controversial Southlands property should remain as agricultural land. The recommendation from staff, which will still be discussed by the committee at another meeting in a couple of weeks, comes on the heels of an Ipsos Reid mail-out survey for the municipality. It found a majority of respon-
dents were not in favour of allowing housing on the Southlands in exchange for the remainder of the site being converted to urban agriculture. “I’d like to work with the owner of the property and see how it can be producing food...I believe the zoning, A1, is where I want it and that is what the community has told us, so I believe this is the right thing,” said Coun. Heather King. Committee member Dorothy MacDonald said the survey made it clear a majority of residents don’t want a trade-off. The Century Group wants to develop the Southlands with 1,900 homes in higher density housing on a third of the site
using concepts of new urbanism. Once completed, it would add 4,000 to 5,000 new residents in Tsawwassen. Several strategies are identified, including designing a housing pattern, which “maximizes the use of the land that contains lower quality soils and less wildlife value.” The proposal also includes 42 per cent (about 200 acres) of the Southlands that has better soil dedicated to agriculture. The agricultural land would be handed over to Delta in a transfer from private to public ownership. The plan also includes a post-secondary institute focused on sustainable agriculture, in partnership Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Earlier this year, the TAP
SANDOR GYARMATI
committee released an “Ideas” document. Although not specifically mentioning the Southlands, the document notes: “innovative policies supportive of urban agricultural activities could be supported.” However, planner Barry Konkin said Thursday that statement is no longer present in the current draft plan, although some of the committee members wondered why they never got to discuss the exclusion or the Southlands issue more fully. Noting the Southlands requires extensive and costly drainage improvements to make it more farmable, committee member See SOUTHLANDS page 3
See BY-ELECTION page 3
Tsawwassen Area Plan draft will state Southlands should remain as agricultural land BY
BY
sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com
A familiar face has become the sixth name to enter the Delta byelection. Former chamber of commerce president Maria DeVries, a 36year resident of Delta, announced Thursday that she’s seeking the council seat left vacant by the death of George Hawksworth this spring. In a news release, she cited a need for increased fiscal responsibility and concern over balancing community interests as her reasons for running. “If elected, I will insist on sound financial decision making, while fighting to preserve Delta’s unique character. Delta families are cutting back on their spending, local government should follow suit. Governments can no longer tax and spend without accountability. It has to stop and it can end on September 18.” DeVries, who has run for council in the past, made news during
Recommendation revealed sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com
DeVries enters byelection