I wasn't sure if this was posted:
rpl.richmond.bc.ca
SEPT 27
Track plan turfed by council Proponent vows race isn't over
Chris Brya, staff reporter
Sungold Entertainment's proposal to build a horse racetrack in East Richmond was voted down Monday, but company president Kim Hart insists the race isn't over.
Councillors voted 7-1 to deny the company's request for city approval to go to the Land Reserve Commission to use farmland at No. 8 Road and Westminster Highway. The company has proposed building a $160 million racetrack on the 92 hectare site, which would include stabling for 1,500 horses and a 15,000 seat grandstand.
Coun. Kiichi Kumagai supported passing the proposal on to the land commission, arguing horse racing has a place in Richmond.
"We are one of the first horse racing communities in the Lower Mainland," Kumagai said, "and I think the ALR should be the ones to tell us if that's the right use of agricultural land."
Other councillors pointed to several concerns about the proposal, including the threat to the viability of surrounding farmland, concerns about increased traffic and a lack of detail in certain aspects of the company's plan.
"The plan is very incomplete and leaves great questions that remain unanswered," Coun. Malcolm Brodie said.
But Hart said he will go to the land commission with or without the blessing of Richmond council, because he wasn't happy with the way his application was treated at committee and by the media.
"I'm not pleased with some of the things I've seen, and if we have to make a special application, we will," he said.
Brodie said he was "unnerved" by Hart's remarks, because Hart had said at earlier stages in the process that he would not pursue the plan unless Richmond was on board.
But it may be a moot point, according to the Land Reserve Commission.
Bruce Gunn, planning officer, says any application to the commission won't go far without municipal approval.
"If a local government isn't prepared to rezone a property, what's the point of getting zoning approval?" he said.
Gunn said Richmond's input would be key to any decision the commission makes on the proposal.
"If a proposal can't pass muster with the local government, it's dead." |
