Sean Hodgins: Twelfth Avenue & 56th Street is arguably the crossroads of the community yet we have two gas stations and a Tim Hortons rather than the kinds of public buildings and spaces one would expect in a charming town centre.  I want to reshape our Town Centre from parking lots to beautiful streets with public art and homes over shops and a beautiful public library and plaza.   We should see more people walking and less cars because people enjoy and are interested in the walking experience. The conception for me is seeing that other towns have been able to do this type of transformation and wanting us to do it here.

Sean Hodgins: Six storey buildings have been permitted in the Town Centre since 2011. No projects have advanced since then because there is no financial incentive to Century Group or any other property owner in the Town Centre to go through the public process and expense to renew their properties. Eight storey buildings do little better and a project must be financially viable or nothing will change.

The density of the towers means that the vast majority of housing is contained to a footprint of less than 10% of the site.  By clustering these buildings in the centre of the site we also minimize impact to surrounding properties and preserve much of the ground plane for the library plaza and other public gathering places. 

These buildings will also offer very different homes than is possible with smaller buildings, with community kitchens for large gatherings, recreation rooms, pet care and bike maintenance facilities among other amenities.  These are the types of sophisticated homes I believe people will come to appreciate greatly as they plan the next chapter of their lives or for new residents to build their future here

Sean Hodgins: The library will be built by Century Group and conveyed to Delta as a public asset in perpetuity.

Sean Hodgins: Water and sewer capacity are either currently available or are in the process of being upgraded by the City of Delta to match the density anticipated in the Official Community Plan.  Any service upgrades specific to our site will be paid for by Century Group.

Road capacity, transit capacity and pedestrian accessibility have been factors at the outset of our planning and documented by a third-party Professional Transportation Engineer.  This includes a new internal street network, allowing many vehicle movements to bypass the busy intersection of 12 Avenue and 56 Street that are forced through this intersection now.  Vehicle traffic by new residents will be significantly reduced because the shops and services they need will be right outside their door.

Sean Hodgins: With everything happening at TFN, Deltaport and Tsawwassen Town Centre, I agree that health care delivery is not keeping up.  If we need to contribute space for better health delivery such as an Urgent Care Clinic, I’m down for that.  But let’s face the reality that health care in our community requires not just space but funding, political determination and the doctors and other health care professionals willing to work in any health facility.  

If we want to attract the young health care professionals needed to transform health care delivery then we also need the type of housing and services to attract more of them to be part of this community.  So count me in for finding a solution to better health care delivery as part of this project.  It would benefit the project and all residents of the community alike.

Sean Hodgins: The studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments would be generally much less expensive than the typical single family home that dominates South Delta today.  Rental housing is also required by Delta and is generally considered as affordable housing in Metro Vancouver (we propose to construct 215 rental homes).  Also we are planning at least 70 below market homes and we will partner with a non-market housing provider to do so.

Sean Hodgins: A significant objective of our planning has been to ensure there is no displacement of businesses during the construction of Phase 1.  It would not be until Phase 2 (2030 or later) that some limited tenant displacement begins and we can either relocate them on site or find other leased space in the Town Centre.

Sean Hodgins: All of us at Century Group are working hard to continue to address questions and concerns about this project.  I am working hard to gain people’s confidence and I take nothing for granted in this process nor should anyone. The very suggestion is also a disservice to our public officials whose continual scrutiny I must answer to as much as those of my fellow citizens.

Sean Hodgins: One would think I’m proposing a pulp mill in the centre of Tsawwassen rather than homes, shops and a library.  I heard the same rhetoric when we were advancing our Southlands project a decade or more ago.  Now you see people walking the path along Southlands Drive, sipping coffee on their front porch or sitting on the patio at Four Winds and people enjoying countless happy moments.

The same attention to detail and sense of purpose we brought to creating Southlands I want to bring to creating something special in the Town Centre and that is what drives me and my team.  We want change, yes, and I believe most people in Tsawwassen want it even as they are a bit scared by it.  But to not do this project misses the opportunity for changing parking spaces into people places and to create the housing and amenities needed for the generation to come