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Keep land agricultural: survey Ipsos Reid results show more than 60% of residential respondents don’t want to see Southlands developed BY
JESSICA KERR
jkerr@delta-optimist.com
The results of the Tsawwassen Area Plan survey are in and, in most cases, it’s clear what the community wants. A majority of residential respondents — more than 60 per cent — stated the Southlands should remain zoned for agricultural use, while 38 per cent support some limited development. Delta council received a report with the results at its meeting Monday night. “These results are very fresh,” said Kyle Braid, a representative from Ipsos Reid, the company hired to carry out the survey. Braid told council the last survey had been entered just hours before the 7 p.m. meeting. In early May, 16,360 copies — two to each household and one to each business — were mailed out. In total, 5,778 surveys were returned — 5,483 residential, 106 business and 189 were rejected for various reasons. “I would call that an excellent, excellent response rate,” Braid said. In calculating the results, Ipsos Reid separated the residential and business surveys, so while the majority of residential respondents stated they wanted to keep
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An Ipsos Reid survey done for Delta found the majority of Tsawwassen residents would like to the the agricultural designation for the Southlands retained. the Southlands for agricultural use, the response from businesses on that question was reversed — 60.4 per cent said they would support some development while 36.8 per cent voted for no change.
The remaining four questions on the survey dealt with other issues the Tsawwassen Area Plan Committee is pondering, such as building heights, infill housing and higher density development.
Just over 60 per cent of residential respondents said the current four-storey building height limit should remain in place; over half were against the municipality relaxing the rules around sub-
dividing single-family lots; and more than 60 per cent of residential respondents were in favour of Delta allowing more townhouses, See SURVEY page 3
Delta matchmaker pleads guilty to mail fraud in U.S. JESSICA KERR
jkerr@delta-optimist.com
The Delta man arrested earlier this year in connection with suspected U.S. mail fraud pleaded guilty to the charges in a Seattle courtroom last week. Barrie Turner, 65, was charged with mail fraud in connection
with the operation of a series of fake “executive dating” websites. He was arrested in March trying to cross the border into Point Roberts after a U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigation into Executive Dating LLC, which ran Executive Catholic Dating and Executive Gay Dating among other matchmaking websites.
On Friday, he entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Authorities allege Turner accepted payments from customers — as much as $997 US for a six-month membership — through the mail while he did not provide legitimate matchmaking services. It is alleged he sent fake matches
to customers. The payments were sent to UPS stores in different states and then forwarded to a mailbox in Point Roberts. More than 100 people have filed consumer complaints about the websites and the postal inspection service said there are more than 1,000 known victims in
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the case. It’s estimated that in the last five years, customers have mailed or wired payments totaling more than $1.2 million. Turner is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 24 in U.S. District Court in Seattle. He could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.