Mission council unanimously approved the purchase of a property in the Cedar Valley neighbourhood for $4.5 million on March 21, capturing land before future development raises the price.
The property located at 9104 Emiry St. is 3.8 acres, according to BC Assessment.
The city currently intends to use the property for park space, but could also potentially use it for other uses, such as an affordable housing project, according to the staff report.
Approximately 40 per cent of the property is easily developed, giving the city an option to sell that portion off to recoup some of the purchase price, or even turn a profit considering escalating land prices.
Coun. Jag Gill said at first he struggled with the purchase, but after speaking with realtors, he agreed that if the purchase wasn’t made soon the land would become unaffordable in the future. He drew parallels to the cost of land in the downtown area.
“What I do like about this property …is it’s big enough that it can be utilized for much more than just a park,” Gill said. “So I think there’s value in so many other ways.”
Staff recommend that 40 per cent of the funding come from unappropriated surpluses, and if the land is eventually used for a park, another 40 per cent can come out of parkland reserve surpluses.
The unappropriated reserves sit at $11 million and the parkland reserves have $6.7 million saved up, with no scheduled projects planned in the 2021 budget.
Staff have no set plan for the park yet, said CAO Mike Younie, noting there is no rush until more development starts to occur in the area.
The purchase will compliment the Cedar Valley Area Plan, the city’s development plan for the neighbourhood, as one of the requests to come out of the community engagement process was more park space.
In the future, staff will also be proposing another parkland purchase at 8850 Cedar Street, estimated at $4 million, related to the relocation of Gaudin Creek.
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