[amor de cosmos]

Originally Posted by Pinion

Is this going to affect the road through the reservation at all? I'd assume so if there's going to be a new bridge over the Capliano. I drive that road to get anywhere and that intersection in the reserve is the only thing stopping it from being a super fast route.

the backgrounder spells it out. see reply #8.

New Westminster News Leader
Port Metro Vancouver to purchase old Queensborough mill site
By Chris Bryan - New Westminster News Leader
Published: March 31, 2009 11:38 AM
Updated: March 31, 2009 4:12 PM

A former mill property in Queensborough could soon be used by Port Metro Vancouver as a distribution centre to pack and unpack shipping containers.

The port has an agreement to purchase the International Forest Products Limited (Interfor) mill site for $30.1 million. The agreement was announced Monday, and is subject to the port obtaining final approval from the federal Minister of Transport. The deal is expected to close by the fall.

Tom Winkler from the port said they have been acquiring properties it will need over the long term, and pointed to a provincial study last year citing a need for 2,700 acres of "port supportive" land in the Lower Mainland in the next 25 years.

"Long term there's going to be a huge requirement for industrial lands," said Winkler, the company's chief strategic development officer, adding that currently there's only about 600 acres of land either suitable or available for a change in use.

The Interfor property would account for about 50 of those acres.

The property is at 501 Boyd St., which is on the east side of the Queensborough Bridge, facing Poplar Island. It encompasses about one kilometre of riverfront.

Interfor's mill, which had 110 employees, closed in December 2007 and the property was put on the market last summer.

Winkler said the property would likely be served by short-sea shipping, meaning containers would be brought by barge from the main terminals at places like Roberts Bank and Burrard Inlet. Once on site, they would be unstuffed and the contents loaded on trucks or trains.

"Interfor had all the attributes we like—access to water, rail and highway," Winkler said.

Faced with the closure of several mills and other industrial operations in recent years, the City of New Westminster has been working to preserve what remains of the industrial land base.

In the Braid industrial area near Coquitlam, the former Canfor mill site was also sold to Port Metro Vancouver, just last year.

For New West city council, the concern with purchases made by government agencies such as the port is that money could be lost in taxation. If the Interfor mill were still running, the city would have received about $400,000 this year. As a port-run property, the city would receive a grant in lieu of taxes.

Winkler said the amount would be the same as if a private company were to conduct the same activities on the site.

A residential high rise development might bring more taxes, he said, but it would also require the city to provide more services and amenities.

Another concern with this type of operation would be the loss of potential public access to the waterfront.

Winkler acknowledged that it's unlikely.

"From a safety aspect, and from a security aspect, it's almost impossible to get on a port site without a pass."

This story will be updated as more information comes available.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/business/42156127.html