The developers behind the Abbotsford Tech District (ATD) concept are asking the city to establish “clear and predictable conditions” for moving forward with the plan.
Gavin Dew, ATD chief strategy officer, gave a presentation to city council on Monday (April 17), asking council to “get this thing moving.”
“Despite three years advancing the Tech District concept at a time when ag and food innovation is increasingly in the spotlight and other cities are keen to seize the mantle of leadership, neither we, as project proponents nor stakeholders, or the general public currently have a clear understanding what the conditions are under which this council will say yes or no to the Tech District opportunity,” he said.
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Dew said a recent random phone survey of 300 residents indicated that 68 per cent agreed “it’s time for city hall to step up and lead so we don’t lose out on investments like this.”
The tech district – which the developers, Auguston Town Development Inc., have described as “Abbotsford’s Silicon Valley” – is a proposed 100-acre community in the McKee Peak area of Sumas Mountain.
The ATD has been in the planning stages for several years after the first proposal – We Town – was rejected by city council in 2019.
The developers say the ATD could include a centre for innovation and food security; spaces for start-ups, entrepreneurs and post-secondary institutions; complementary commercial and professional services; thousands of new homes; and farm-to-table restaurants and coffee shops.
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“Over 40 years of development, the Tech District will inject billions of dollars in private-sector capital investment toward affordable housing, high-quality local education and well-paying jobs,” Dew told council.
He said the ATD has drawn enthusiastic support from various sectors of the community, but “the last piece missing is a visionary and collaborative partner in the City (of Abbotsford).”
He said there is “no practical reason” that the amendment the Tech District requires to the Official Community Plan should not proceed to a public information meeting in May or June and to a public hearing this fall.
“We’re not asking you to blindly rubber-stamp our concept or to ask less of us than of others. We’re simply asking you to lay out clear trail markers on a path to yes,” Dew told council.
As he was appearing as a delegation, no decisions or comments were made by council.
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The ATD has not been included as part of the McKee Neighbourhood Plan, which, if approved, will be used by council in making decisions about a 1,900-acre area of McKee Peak in terms of allowable uses, building forms and densities.
That plan is still making its way through council. A procedural error discovered after a five-hour public hearing on March 6 means that first and second reading of the applicable bylaw must be redone, as must the public hearing.
Dates have not yet been set for any of those matters.
vikki.hopes@abbynews.com
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