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[Richmond] Garden City Lands Park

http://604now.com/2014/06/richmond-h...en-city-lands/

Quote:

Richmond Has Decided What To Do With 55-Hectare Garden City Lands

The wait is finally over, Richmond has decided what to do with the 55-hectare land along Garden City and to the disappointment of many, it won’t be a new shopping centre.

The Garden City Lands will become a major new community park with diverse uses, including urban agriculture, environmental preservation and interpretation, recreational and cultural uses under a Legacy Landscape Plan unanimously approved by Richmond City Council Monday, June 9.

The Garden City Lands is a largely untouched, 55-hectare (136-acres) parcel of open space on the edge of Richmond City Centre. The lands, purchased by the City in 2010 after decades of use by the federal government as a radio antenna tower site, are located within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). The plan ensures future uses will be limited to those permitted within the ALR.

Council’s approval of the plan marks the end of an 18-month public process in which thousands of Richmond residents had input on developing the vision for the future of the Garden City Lands.

“This has been a remarkable process,” said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “We had a rare opportunity to plan the future of a large and unique area of undeveloped land right in the heart of the city. We’ve achieved our goals of returning it to the public realm for our entire community to use and enjoy, preserving it as open space and an environmental asset and honouring our agricultural heritage. We want to thank our staff and the thousands of Richmond residents who participated in the process for their commitment in achieving an outstanding plan for this important community asset.”

Completion of the plan fulfils one of Council’s key Term Goals. In 2012, Council committed to completing a plan by 2014, before the end of its current term. Key components of the plan include;

Dedicating up to 50 acres of the site for urban agriculture and farming uses.
Preserving about 70 acres of the site in its ecologically-significant and natural bog state with boardwalks and lookouts sensitively integrated throughout to support environmental interpretation and public enjoyment of this area.
An extensive trails system featuring a 2.5-kilometre perimeter trail.
A community hub acting as a focal point for public activities and principal gateway into the park. It will be comprised of gathering and festival spaces, play elements, community and demonstration gardens, and a small cluster of service buildings.
An eight-acre “mound” on existing raised area at the north end of the site, which will be used for various neighbourhood and community uses with seating and picnicking, pathways, open grass meadow areas, fruit and woodlot trees.
A sanctuary area in the centre of park providing quite space for reflection and other passive activities.
A designated wetland, which will act as a natural collector of surface water draining through the site and a water feature for public enjoyment.
Public art and other cultural landscape features will be integrated throughout the park.
Approval of the Legacy Landscape Plan is only the first step in a lengthy process, Extensive additional research, planning and consultation will be required to further develop various plan components. The plan’s implementation is expected to be a multi-year process. Immediate next steps will include development of a detailed resource management plan for the site which will include site maintenance, water management and farm management; undertaking detailed hydrology monitoring and testing; development of a funding strategy and multi-year implementation plan; and establishing an interpretation program and phased programming strategy for the lands.

Building the perimeter trail is anticipated to be an early step in the park development. In addition, an on-site information event is planned for 2015 to provide further public access to the site, building on the success of the hugely popular Ideas Fair. Held on the site in 2013 during the public consultation process, the Ideas Fair was attended by hundreds of Richmond residents and provided the first extensive opportunity for the community to access and enjoy the lands in nearly a century.

At least they aren't putting a convention centre out there, as was planned at one time.

I thought that playing fields (soccer etc.) were to be included, but there's no mention of them. Are playing fields compatible with ALR designation?

I couldn't find a good bird's eye view of the landscaping plan, and everything is in PDFs and isolated details.

http://creategardencitylands.ca/wp-c...acy-Plan-2.pdf (121 page PDF)
That has a map view of the area which I can't copy and paste right now. The Garden City Lands is only 1/4 of a ~600 acre rectangular open space. Another 1/4 is owned by the DND, but who knows what their plans for it are, and half of it is what they call the Richmond Nature Park surrounding the interchange of Highway 91/Alderbridge Way and Highway 99.

Central Park is 843 acres.

so does anyone know when this will happen? is there any time frame on this? everything seems to be from 2014, and it is now almost the end of 2016.

Garden City Lands

http://i.imgur.com/NFYbYUe.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture (Post 7550543)

so does anyone know when this will happen? is there any time frame on this? everything seems to be from 2014, and it is now almost the end of 2016.

Garden City Lands

They just posted a big article last month in the Richmond News. Timeframe is like a decade but the perimeter trails will be built first.

http://www.richmond-news.com/news/we...ands-1.2321971

I don't know enough to comment on the content of this, but the landscape design (the shapes, creation of topography, linkages, beauty, and so on) seems to have been forgotten. And it needn't cost more money to simply have a geometry that creates beautiful and recognizable places/routes within the whole. This looks like these values are not included at all. A good design and this could be a centerpiece (even an iconic one) for Richmond.

i noticed phase 1 has started. there are signs posted but i drove by so couldn't get a good look. but it seems the exterior path is being built since they have done what looks like preloading.

I passed there 2 weeks ago, I wondered what was going on there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkytrainCar026 (Post 8230522)

Garden City Lands Park

This is Richmond’s largest new park, and about half of it will be dedicated to urban farming. The perimeter trail opened to the public around mid-June.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_s...=w1263-h947-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/VF...=w1263-h947-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/W7...=w1263-h947-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TX...=w1263-h947-no

from Richmond Updates thread.

it doesn't seem like much hazs changed in 2 years really. a little more grown out i guess, otherwise doesn't look like a lot of work has happened.

i am still disappointed with it being like 1/2 useless bog...

Plans for Garden City Lands in Richmond include urban agriculture, conservation bog

Quote:

A large tract of mostly unused farmland called Garden City Lands in Richmond is being transformed into a massive park with hectares of sustainable organic farms, a project that has become more important amid food security fears sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Curious onlookers will have noticed a futuristic geodesic dome and three greenhouses in one corner of Garden City, where peppers, zucchini, eggplants, cucumbers, greens and other vegetables are being grown. The structures are part of the sustainable agriculture program run by the nearby Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU), which trains students to grow produce with limited reliance on fossil fuels or electric tools.

“There is a lot of potential to grow food locally,” said department chairwoman Rebecca Harbut. “That’s what we really want to show. You can grow a lot of food on two-to-five acres. The whole point is to demonstrate to farmers how we can be productive and sustainable on a small plot of land.”

The lands are designated agricultural land reserve, or ALR — a provincial land trust guarded against development — and Harbut said she hoped the urban farm could be a model.

“We have tons of ALR land that is really well-suited to growing food,” she said. “If we were able to grow food on all that land, we could create a significant dent (in the required local food supply).”

...

The city in 2010 bought the 55 hectares, bounded by Westminster Highway, Alderbridge Way and Garden City and No. 4 roads, and the plans for the park were endorsed by council in 2014. Council is reviewing and considering plans for further development, which calls for roughly half of the land to be used for urban agriculture and half for a conservation bog.

But because the land is ALR, any plan requires approval from the Agriculture Land Commission (ALC). The city has made several applications and has so far received approvals to build a dike, a pedestrian path and to bring in soil for the KPU farm, said Kurnicki.

...

ALC approval is needed for future plans, including community gardens, an interpretative bog, an area for recreational purposes, demonstration orchards and community education programs.

The ALC decision in 2017 noted “all of the lands remain within ALR and should be made available for future agriculture use.”

ALC CEO Kim Grout said she couldn’t comment on any continuing applications.

In 2006, the ALC refused an application from the city to exempt the lands from the ALR for a trade-and-exhibition centre; urban residential, mixed-use development; and “major” park facilities.