Why Delta was the municipality of choice for master-planned community Tsawwassen Springs

Business leaders are looking to the The Corporation of Delta for their next venture. This is due in large part to Mayor Lois E. Jackson, CAO George V. Harvie and the Delta council. They have changed the landscape for developers, says Ron Toigo, managing director of Shato Holdings. He has been developing in Delta since the early 80s.

His current project is Tsawwassen Springs, the ultimate master-planned community with homes, a golf course, a commercial court, Pat Quinn’s Restaurant & Bar, fitness and wellness centres and the largest ballroom south of the Fraser for special events.

“The one thing about Lois is that she always listens,” says Toigo, referring to what keeps attracting him to Delta as a place to do business. “That, and the can-do attitude at municipal hall.”

Although Toigo’s company has developments in other municipalities, he’s found that “Delta has been the most adaptable and accountable for what they say they’ll do. I find it to be one of the easiest to deal with. They have a process and once you’re in it, there’s a timeline that goes with it. If you put a proposal forward, you find out whether you’re going to be able to do business or not in a fairly short period of time. In my experience, deadlines have been met better than other municipalities in Metro Vancouver.”

This is important to any business. Not only do they need deadlines to be met, but they need a responsive partner in a municipality—one that can adapt to changing needs of the community and work with businesses to provide the best services for residents and visitors.

Tsawwassen Springs is a good example of this. Toigo had to involve the Agricultural Land Commission, as farm and industrial land needed to be rezoned for the project. “We took 30 acres out of the ALR, put 15 acres back in, and rezoned 150 acres from industrial zoned land to agricultural land with a soil-based farming covenant. That was a huge win for agriculture. That kind of innovation wouldn’t have happened without people like George V. Harvie, who can negotiate these deals on behalf of Delta and make it a better place in the end.”

That open-mindedness is why business leaders like Toigo are eager to bring their ventures to the municipality.

“I look forward to our next project in Delta. We’re always looking for new projects and Delta is one of the first municipalities we consider.”