Surrey City Council endorses protecting over 200 acres of federal farmland

Surrey City Council endorses protecting over 200 acres of federal-owned farmland

The provincial government's Agricultural Land Commission proposal for expanding the protected ALR designation to federally owned lands in Campbell Heights. (City of Surrey)

A significant tract of fertile farmland in southeast Surrey that is under potential risk for being developed into industrial uses now has Surrey City Council’s support for protecting its existing agricultural uses.

On Monday, City Council unanimously voted in support of adding the 220-acre (89 hectares) property, owned by the federal government, to the provincial government’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) designation, which strictly protects such lands for protected agricultural uses.

This represents a partial endorsement of the provincial government’s Agricultural Land Commission’s December 2022 proposal to put 303 acres (123 hectares) of federally owned land in Campbell Heights under the ALR. City Council does not support the commission’s proposal of adding the remaining 84 acres (34 hectares) of “intact forested land” — located along the northernmost side of the lot — to the ALR.

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The federally owned property has been used for agriculture for about half a century, and it has been concurrently leased to local producers for agricultural use.

The site is framed by 192 Street to the west, 36 Avenue to the south, the Township of Langley municipal border to the east, and an existing tract of ALR to the north.

The City of Surrey’s recommended ALR protection area of federally owned farmlands in Campbell Heights, excluding the portion that is forested. (City of Surrey)

The ALR designation is in response to the federal government’s consideration of selling the properties, which may leave the lands open to industrial development — a northwards expansion of Campbell Heights industrial park. Currently, these farmlands have been designated by the City for “business or technology park” uses.

“It is crucial that we protect this invaluable, high-yield farmland to help ensure future food security in the region and across British Columbia,” said Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke in a statement.

“Not only does this rich agricultural land ensure a resilient local food supply, but its preservation will help reduce our carbon footprint in the battle against climate change. Council is also in favour of keeping 34 hectares, in the ALC proposal, intact and protected in its current state as ecologically valuable forested land.”

It is estimated the current active uses of the lot as farmland yields 50 million servings of vegetables annually, according to the City.

Over 22,900 acres (9,275 hectares) or about 30% of Surrey’s land area is under the protected ALR, with 57% actively farmed, 24% in a natural or semi-natural condition, and 19% inactively farmed or not farmed. This leaves about 4,200 acres (1,700 hectares) — more than four times the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park — of unconstrained ALR land for future farming uses.

The federally owned lands in Campbell Heights under consideration for ALR protection, contrasted with the rest of Campbell Heights industrial area, including the recently created South Campbell Heights area. (City of Surrey)

In contrast, the Campbell Heights Land Use Plan that lays out the industrial park area has a total size of 1,627 acres (658 acres), with only 775 acres (313 hectares) remaining undeveloped. The protection of the federally owned lands under the ALR reduces the vacant employment land supply in Campbell Heights to 470 acres and results in an estimated $53 million shortfall in development cost charge revenues to support the area’s infrastructure upgrades, such as roads and utilities.

It is anticipated the remaining vacant lands for industrial and business park development will be fully developed by the end of this decade.

About a year ago, City Council and Metro Vancouver Regional District approved expanding the regional urban containment boundary, where development can occur, to enable 400 new acres designated for mixed-employment uses — known as South Campbell Heights, a southward expansion of the existing Campbell Heights area.

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