Updates

Thank you to everyone who sent words of encouragement, letters to the editor, letters to council as well as all the feedback we have received to date regarding our project. They all help as we step back and reevaluate our options.

As you may know, on January 21, Central Saanich Council turned down our application to amend the Official Community Plan (OCP) to include a portion of our property in the Urban Containment Boundary that would allow a mixed-use high-density development to be built on our non-Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land. We have been asked by municipal staff and some of the councilors to come back with another plan, one that fits the "rural setting" of the surrounding community. As a result we will be working with municipal planners and our team of qualified consultants to do just that. While we still feel that "Plan A" was the best possible option for the community, environment and the land we are proposing to develop, we are now spending time and effort to come up with "Plan B", the next best possible option.

Net revenue generated from the 13 hectare development will go into infrastructure modernization projects that are necessary to assist the farm in becoming economically, environmentally and socially sustainable, expand land holdings and support ongoing operational improvements. This is essential for us to secure our land for future food and flower production that will be sustainable in the face of increasing climate change.

We expect to have more information available in a few weeks so please keep checking back for more updates to the website. If you would like to join our contact list for further updates and information about the project and to learn more about what we are proposing please sign-up to the Vantreight Hill development contact List  or contact me directly at (250) 652-0777.

Sincerely,

Ian Vantreight & family

Managed change deserves fair hearing

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Change will come: let’s work together to manage it and to bring our community into the future.

I am a young father, a resident, a local farmer and member of the community who is genuinely concerned about the direction Central Saanich will take. I am writing to residents of this area with regard to my family’s development proposal at Vantreight Farms that is currently under review and widely misunderstood.

The most common misunderstanding we have encountered in our public open houses and appearances before council is that this proposal will damage the rural nature of our community. On the contrary, it is designed to protect it. People are adamant about the need to save farmland and preserve our rural character. We agree completely, and preservation is at the heart of what we are trying to do. Before anything else, my family are farmers, and we cherish agriculture as a way of life. Bringing this truly green development to Central Saanich will let us modernize, expand and continue our family’s farming tradition and also be able to further provide fenceless fields that the community has enjoyed for so many years. Farming and preserving our rural land is why we are proposing this development, and the development is essential for our operation to be viable in the future. We have lived here for generations, and we will continue to live here and raise our families here for generations to come.

As we went through this process and heard more and more from people, our plans became increasingly directed to benefiting the community and we are now very excited to have evolved our plans to have a positive impact on the environment and global warming. It is vital to understand that our proposal will be revolutionary from the perspective of sustainability. Supporting this proposal means supporting managed change in our community through cleaner and more responsible development of land, technology that will revolutionize how communities and farmers can co-exist, and use of waste streams to benefit the environment. We have an opportunity to be a leader in North American communities in reducing greenhouse gasses (GHGs) through an innovative and environmentally positive development closely coupled with agriculture – at no cost to taxpayers.

The issue of global warming is far too important and the benefits to the community of this proposal are far too great to not consider it carefully through a public forum. Too much is at stake to simply turn it down without hearing from the community. My family’s intentions should not be misrepresented by people who are opposed to any kind of change and who spread misinformation and fear.

I urge you to not pass up this opportunity for Central Saanich to be a climate change leader. I encourage you to learn for yourself what we are proposing at www.daffodil.com or call us directly at 250-652-7777 for more information.

Change will come: we must work together as a community to manage it.

Daffodil grower's housing proposal puts sewage to work

SHANNON MONEO - Special to The Globe and Mail

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VICTORIA -- Canada's largest daffodil grower is giving a new meaning to "green thumb" as it plans one of B.C.'s first developments that would produce heat and recycled water from a mix of farm waste and household sewage.

Daffodil farm's plan for green community meets opposition on Vancouver Island

Nathan VanderKlippe, Financial Post Published: Tuesday, November 20, 2007

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VANCOUVER -- Every spring, Vantreight Farms paints Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula bright yellow with vast fields that produce 18-million daffodils, more than anyone else in Canada.

Now, in a development twist they say could serve as a model for the rest of the country, the family-owned operation is planning to turn a nearby hilltop bright green with a $150-million new residential subdivision that will share heat and sewage with the farm, and slash greenhouse gases emissions in the process.

It is a model of agricultural and residential co-existence that has grown in popularity in Europe, but has not yet been tried in North America, where farmers and homeowners typically make better sparring partners than neighbours, they say. But if the Vantreight development is approved over the cries of an angry community that doesn't like the idea, it could serve as a model for how things can be, its proponents say.

"It's helping agriculture, it's helping the community at large and it's helping the environment, so there's some really good benefits," said Ryan Vantreight, the 30-year-old son of Ian, the farm's owner, and the originator of the green idea. "Plus it will lower our energy needs and thus lower our overhead."

In fact, consultants are drafting a plan for the provincial Cabinet on linking agriculture with housing, and one of the province's leading carbon critics says it's a good idea that fits in with a growing trend toward "industrial ecology."

"This is the future," said Mark Jaccard, who co-authored the recently-released "Hot Air: Meeting Canada's Climate Change Challenge."

"We have to integrate the waste streams, the byproducts of our activities and lifestyles into cycles where they're reused or at least become benign to the environment around us."

Experience in Europe -- where the concept is gaining ground in places like Denmark and Sweden -- has shown that the concept can, in some cases, be revenue-positive, he said.

The Vantreight plans call for recycling sewage and farm wastes between both the farm and houses, and depend on a few key facts. For example, the average temperature of sewage in nearby Victoria is 17C, said Chris Corps, a land economist who is acting as a consultant on the project. The Vantreights are planning to recapture that heat so it is not wasted. Sewage is also more than 95% water, he said, and the proposed system would capture that water, treat it and use it as irrigation for the daffodils.

The remainder of the sewage would be treated and tossed into a massive composter -- using anaerobic bacteria that don't stink -- along with other farm bio-wastes and the 10,000 tonnes of yard and garden waste that the Vantreights already recycle every year. The compost would produce both heat, which would be used to warm the houses and greenhouses, as well as fertilizer and biogas that the farm could use in its operations.

All of those recovery operations would cost money to install, but would ultimately achieve enough savings to be "tax and cost-neutral. That's what we're aiming to achieve," Mr. Corps said.

He also claims the development will be greenhouse-gas negative -- meaning it could suck carbon from the air rather than adding to it -- but only, he admits, if it does things like, for example, mining the municipalities sewage pipes for heat.

But for all that possibility, this was an idea born essentially out of desperation -- and its green claims depend on a community buy-in that will not be easy to achieve.

The Vantreight family has farmed on Vancouver Island for 123 years. In the mid-1950s, Geoff Vantreight Jr., Ian's father, linked arms with the Canadian Cancer Society to start the annual daffodil campaign. The farm is now the second-largest daffodil producer in North America, sprawling over 400 acres -- 150 of them planted -- and 160,000 square feet of greenhouses.

Geoff Jr. died in 2000, leaving his two sons, Ian and a brother, to fight for six years over ownership of the farm. Ian eventually prevailed, but only after buying his brother out at such a high cost that he could not afford to maintain the farm without some substantial new revenue streams.

The residential development was key among them. Eventually, the family decided on a new subdivision that would include 31 single-family homes, 92 townhomes and 141 condo units. The homes would be perched on a small hill on the property that looks out over a breathtaking view of daffodil fields and, farther away, the waters of the Strait of Georgia and a horizon etched with distant mountains.

"We have an opportunity to do something really special and there's a lot of people that have contacted me and are already on a waiting list," said Ian.

But for all its promise, the development has stirred no small measure of opposition in the local community. The Vantreights have not yet achieved any of the necessary permissions for the development, and actually building it will require swapping land out of the province's Agricultural Land Reserve and changing a number of community planning documents.

That has not sat well with neighbours, who see the Vantreights as bringing big-city density to their quiet rural area.

"It's not healthy," said Hildegard Horie, a retiree who lives 200 metres from the daffodil farm. "We need more agricultural land and if we build on all the green spaces, then the southern part of the island will just be a huge sea of houses. And we need the green space."

Still, even she admits the new houses, perched on fields of spring-time yellow, will be awfully nice to live in.

"Oh yes, it would be beautiful for them," she said.

Island Green Thumbs – Go Greener

Saanich, B.C. August 2007 - The next generation of Vantreight farmers is ready to kick up some dirt and look at ways to reduce the Saanich Peninsula farm’s environmental footprint, and 30-year-old Ryan Vantreight’s first step is switching all of the farm’s diesel equipment and vehicles to biodiesel.

“While we are not a major emitter of pollution or greenhouse gases on the Island, we still want to make a contribution and hopefully lead by example in reducing our carbon footprint,” said Ryan Vantreight.

Columbia Fuels, which is one of Western Canada’s largest distributors of biodiesel, is supplying the biodiesel blend to Vantreight Farms.

By switching to biodiesel, a renewable, plant based diesel fuel equivalent; Vantreight Farms will be the first large- scale farm in the region to use biodiesel in its operations. As a result of switching all of their equipment and farm vehicles to a soybean based biodiesel blend, Vantreight Farms will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 53,000 kg (53 tonnes) per year. Biodiesel exhaust also has far less particulate matter, carcinogens, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and sulphur compared to regular diesel. Vantreight Farms will be running on a B20 blend (20% biodiesel blended with 80% ultra low sulphur diesel).

“It’s great to see biodiesel used on the farm, the same place it originated. We are proud to be Vantreight Farms’ biodiesel supplier,” said Kees Schaddelee, Biofuels Coordinator at Island owned Columbia Fuels. “We hope that their environmental leadership will encourage other Island farms to make the switch to biodiesel and help us realize our goal of making Vancouver Island the biodiesel capital of Canada”

Vantreight’s father, Ian, did not take long to convince.

“It’s a natural fit to switch to biodiesel. We don’t need to do anything to the equipment, and it reduces emissions, which is good for the planet and for our employees who are exposed to the exhaust. It also supports the agricultural industry rather than the petroleum industry, and we like that,” said Ian.

The switch to biodiesel is just the first step in a sustainable farming plan that the younger Vantreight is creating.

“Over the next year, we will be looking at many areas of the farm that we can make an impact. From reducing our heating needs, to replacing old equipment with more efficient modern equipment, to using natural fertilizers and pesticides. It is all about creating a balance of being environmentally, socially and fiscally responsible,” says Vantreight. ”

The Vantreight family has been farming on Vancouver Island for five generations since their ancestors came to Canada from Dublin, Ireland over 120 years ago. Within that time they have become the largest Daffodil grower in Canada and the second largest in North America. Vantreight Farms is a progressive grower and shipper of quality cut Daffodils, Tulips, Iris, Narcissus, French Tulips, Baby Tulips, Lilies, as well as Daffodil and Tulip Bulbs, Kiwifruit and Vegetables.

Media Contact:

Vantreight Farms

Ryan Vantreight, Logistics & Development

(250) 883-7707

ryan@daffodil.com

Columbia Fuels

Manager Kees Schaddelee,

Biofuels Coordinator
(250) 391-3670
kees@columbiafuels.com

Vantreight Farms proposes a low-carbon development in Central Saanich that might even make Kyoto targets possible

Farm and development proposal aims to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the community

Victoria, BC – If a development proposed by Vantreight Farms on the Saanich Peninsula proceeds, and communities across Canada got on board, it might even be possible for this country to meet the GHG levels set by the Kyoto Protocol.

“Much more work needs to be done, and we need to work with the community for this to be realized, but the potential is exciting for agriculture, the community and the environment,” says Ian Vantreight, owner of Vantreight Farms.

Central Saanich’s active involvement and participation would be necessary, but this would establish the community as a leader in North America for sustainable development.

This initiative would be a substantial contributor to Central Saanich meeting its signature to the BC Climate Action Charter, launched recently by the province and the Union of BC Municipalities. It could also potentially provide heat to local community amenities such as the Saanich Peninsula Hospital, who have signed a memorandum supporting resource recovery, which is what is Vantreight proposes.

Vantreight Farms is Canada’s largest daffodil producer, and has been in operation for over 123 years on Vancouver Island. Vantreight is proposing to develop a rocky hill adjacent to his productive farmland into a residential community. The currently proposed development would feature 31 single-family homes, 92 townhomes, and 141 condominium units.

In the planning stages Vantreight recognized natural synergies between the farm and the proposed development. The energy, water, and nutrients from the organic and liquid wastes of a farm and of homes in the development can be exchanged, thus reducing their combined ecological impacts. The conceptual plans include using heat pumps to recover heat from wastewater for the farm's greenhouses and the development’s housing units, and a plant to convert organic waste into biofuels for electricity and heat.

"If we produce only enough biofuels to meet the needs of the farm and proposed development, we will be greenhouse gas neutral," says Vantreight. "We're also studying the feasibility of diverting more organic waste from the surrounding community away from the landfill, to produce enough biofuels to send clean energy back into the community."

This step would take the farm and development from being greenhouse gas neutral to greenhouse gas negative. In other words, the farm and development would actually reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the community. Because the carbon in biofuels comes from the atmosphere rather than fossil sources, biofuels from organic waste do not contribute to climate change.

The proposed development shows why it can be beneficial to co-locate housing with a farm. The proposal would not only reinvest in the community but would also help meet the GHG reduction targets announced earlier this year by BC premier Gordon Campbell.

“We have always been committed to a business plan that made sense for our community and for our operation, and to be leaders in sustainability. We now have an opportunity to support Central Saanich in becoming a leader in North America for sustainability GHG reductions,” says Vantreight. "It could truly be a win for everyone."

The proposed plan, if endorsed by the Central Saanich Advisory Planning Committee next week, and subsequently Central Saanich Council, could provide more benefit not only to agriculture but also to the environment and the community.

Vantreight says to maintain a viable and sustainable farming operation in the long term, new and innovative technologies need to be implemented. He could have sold parcels of his land, which would most likely become estate farms and possibly could have been the end of a 123-year legacy.

“The easy way would have been to simply sell, but we’ve chosen the much more challenging path, one that as far as we know has never been walked before, but which could break new ground in terms of sustainable development while working with agriculture,” he says. “We will be creating 16 acres of publicly accessible parkland, providing a greater tax base for the municipality and contributing to local projects like affordable housing. We’re creating walking and cycling paths, providing diverse housing choices, and by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the farm and proposed development we will become part of the solution to global warming.”

Vantreight Farms grows 18 million daffodils and generates over 1,500 jobs annually. “We believe this initiative will help us become economically, environmentally and socially sustainable and will set a new standard for sustainable farming for generations to come,” he says. 

Contact: Ian Vantreight, 250-652-0777 or ian@daffodil.com
Images are available upon request.

An Open Letter to the Community

Dear Central Saanich Residents,

As we continue to consult with the community and the District over our proposed mixed-use housing
development on Vantreight-owned land, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to educate
themselves on our proposed development and for providing their thoughts, ideas and support. I would also like
to correct some mis-information currently circulating about this project.

• The hill site proposed for development is not in the middle of farmland; it is on the edge of it. Immediately adjacent to the north is a fully developed subdivision.
• The hill is not farmable due to rock and steep terrain, which is very evident throughout the proposed development site. To be sure of this we had soils capability studies undertaken by independent experts, and we have received letters from experienced farmers supporting this fact.
  
• Original ALR boundaries were drawn in the wrong location and we need to fix this so that only unfarmable land is developed. Redrawing the boundaries to add farmable land to the ALR and excluding the unfarmable rocky areas for some form of development will not only help us preserve and expand the arable land we farm, it will allow us to upgrade our farm operations so they are sustainable in the face of increasing climate change.
  
• The mixed-use housing development we are proposing will follow innovative sustainable building practices,
  including LEED®(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and going beyond it in enhancing trails and greenspace. The project will help us invest in water conservation, groundwater recharging, reducing energy needs and creating a creekside trail dedicated to the community. All of this will benefit the community, and be the catalyst that will help us become economically, environmentally and socially sustainable and set a new standard for environmentally friendly farming in this area for generations to come.
  
• There will be no cost to taxpayers in servicing the hill site. Any road upgrades will be at Vantreight Farms’ expense. Currently hydro, water, sewer, schools and our local hospital are all being underutilized. This proposed development would use what is already in place and already paid for.
  
• The development will not be done on any land that is in the ALR. We want to expand the amount of land we can farm and this development will help achieve it.
  

It has been said that Central Saanich is at a crossroads. We also believe that is true. Without a growing, vibrant
community, increased tax base, access to housing that allows aging in place, support to local farmers and the
vision to create a community that follows the highest standards in environmental and energy design, Central
Saanich runs the risk of being left behind. Growth will come; it is how we manage it that is important and that
people take the time to educate themselves on the facts.

I encourage you to become involved in this process and voice your opinion. I also encourage you to contact me
directly with any questions regarding the future of Vantreight Farms and our proposed development. You can
call me at 250-652-0777or email ian@daffodil.com.

Sincerely,
Ian Vantreight
& Family