Foundations for what looks like a concrete wall have been laid in front of an 18,000-square-foot mega-mansion on No. 2 Road in Steveston, eliciting anger from farmland advocates.
Michelle Li tweeted photos of the concrete foundations just south of Steveston Highway as well as cinder blocks piled next to the foundations, saying every time she drives out to Steveston, it makes her yell.
Li, who is co-coordinator of Richmond Farmwatch, an advocacy group that is working to protect Richmond’s farmland, said she’s received emails from people asking her if she knows why a wall is being built. Some are worried the land won’t be farmed, others don’t want the view to farmland blocked, and still others worry the farmstand will be pushed out.
“I am personally concerned that this is blocking access to farmland and that the city’s new path along No. 2 Road is also impeding the ability for potential farmland access on some of these lots,” she explained.
She told the Richmond News that driving along No. 2 Road in Steveston makes her “distressed” because these mega-mansions were approved despite warnings that farmland would become unaffordable and the land couldn’t be farmed.
“These ostentatious mansions are continuing to be built with excessive landscaping encroaching on prime farmland,” she said. “We are seeing the framing of these final monsters that were approved under the previous council.”
On Sunday, Coun. Harold Steves tweeted that No. 2 Road "mega fence" has been referred to the city's planning departement and the bylaw department is also looking at it. It came up at the Oct. 10 Food Security and Agricultural Advisory Committee meeting, Steves tweeted.
Li added that, despite warnings from experts and community activists, council listened to the realtors and developers who said the houses were for farming families.
This mega house received its construction permits before Richmond restricted the size of homes in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) to 400 square metres (4,306 square feet) last winter.
The house sits on a property that is 26.6 acres in size and its property taxes, according to City of Richmond data, came to $7,746.70.
The assessed value for the lot is $347,174 and the house is assessed at $1,999,000.
Li said she thinks the previous council “underestimated our community’s connection to farmland,” and during the 2018 municipal election, farmland became an issue.
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