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Canada Lands Co. paid $9.5-million in December of 2005 for agricultural land sold this week to Richmond City Council for $59.2-million, documents at the B.C. Land Title and Survey office show.

The market value in 2005 was set when the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans transferred the 55-hectare site to a federal Crown corporation, Canada Lands Co. The federal lands, which had been used for a facility involved in directing ocean traffic, had been declared surplus.

Gordon McIvor, vice-president of Canada Lands, said yesterday the Crown corporation owns the property jointly with the Musqueam First Nation.

Although the Musqueam were not registered on the land title, the federal government has recognized their ancestral claim to the land. The Musqueam will receive half of the proceeds from the $59.2-million sale, Mr. McIvor said. "Canada Lands and the Musqueam became strong partners. We are really pleased and proud of that partnership," he said.

The Garden City lands in central Richmond have been a source of controversy for years. Canada Lands and the Musqueam had proposed a high-density residential and commercial development on a large portion of the land, with the remainder used as park. However, the property, which is part of the B.C. agricultural land reserve, can only be used for farming. Two applications to take the property out of the land reserve were unsuccessful.

Richmond subsequently decided to make an offer to buy the land. City councillors said in interviews the municipality was buying the property to ensure that the land remains a community resource and is never used for commercial and residential development. But they were divided on whether the city paid too much for the land and how the land should be used.

Mayor Malcolm Brodie, who voted against the offer of $59.2-million for the land, questioned why the majority on council agreed to the price without having a clear idea how the land would be used. The proposals are diverse, from keeping the land in the agricultural reserve to applying for exemptions in order to build facilities such as an arena, he said. One councillor suggested using the land as a peat bog.

"We bought the land controlled by the agricultural land commission. But what can we do with it? Neither council nor the community has a common vision. To do this without public input has some real drawbacks," Mr. Brodie said.

Richmond Councillor Bill McNulty said the price paid by the city was reasonable, compared to the cost the city pays for parkland in residential areas. "We pay much more to buy parkland lot by lot by lot," he said, adding that Richmond would have bought the lands for less if it could. "This is a fair deal."

Richmond Councillor Greg Halsey-Brandt, who also voted against making the offer, called for a referendum on how the land should be used. "Everyone on council would like to acquire the Garden City lands. It is right in the middle of our town," he said. "But we all have different ideas of what it should be used for.

"Some say a farm to grow blueberries and cranberries, and others want park and playground and swimming pools."

He said he favours developments such as community gardens, swimming pools, ice rinks and soccer fields - uses that would require approval to take the land out of the agricultural reserve.

The residents should have a chance to vote on whether the city should leave the land in the agricultural reserve "for growing cranberries" or apply to take some or all of the land out of the reserve for community facilities, Mr. Halsey-Brandt said. "Now the battle is going to heat up over what we are going to use it for, because I will be damned if we are going to use it just for growing cranberries."

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