The Agricultural Land Commission has denied the Pelton family's application to pull land near 203rd Street and 132nd Avenue out of the agricultural land reserve, saying the land is still suitable for farming.

The Pelton family applied to have 66 hectares of farmland pulled out of the land reserve and wanted to develop the majority of the land into an industrial park, but also include a park and community gardens.

"We're not shocked, but we are surprised," said Chris Rounding, co-owner of the Pelton Employment Lands. "We thought there was a lot of things that were beneficial to the community."

He added the family had not expected an outright denial or approval; rather they thought perhaps the land commission would have asked for some changes to things they were concerned about.

The commission stated in its decision that the land has farming capabilities and is "suitable" for farming.

The commission further stated that the proposal would "impact agriculture" and was "inconsistent with the Agricultural Land Commission Act to preserve agricultural land."

Rounding said he and the rest of the family are trying to wrap their heads around the decision and don't know yet how they're going to move forward.

"We had a plan A ... we didn't really have a plan B," Rounding said.

In a press release, the Pelton family expressed its disappointment of the decision.

"We had hoped that the very extensive community benefits and the support received not only from Maple Ridge council but also from many members of the community would have persuaded the ALC of the merits of our proposal," Steve Pelton said in a press release.

The Pelton family doesn't have any plans for the property at this time. They have one year to ask the land commission to reconsider their proposal but it would have to be significantly different or have significant new information, Rounding said, but the family doesn't know if they want to have it reconsidered.

Currently, Steve Pelton has a herb-growing business on the property.

There are also greenhouses and part of the land is leased. About three-quarters is currently unused, Rounding said.

The application process is "strenuous," Rounding said, and he estimated they paid about a quarter of a million dollars to get the proposal together, which included a lot of technical reports.

"The process I believe is a fair process," he said.

The Pelton family had made inquiries about how interested businesses were in an industrial park and "there was definitely people interested," Rounding said.

He said he believes Maple Ridge will lose out on business because of the lack of space and opportunities in the community.

In its decision, the land commission noted that there are many properties nearby that are actively being farmed and they "did not believe there are external factors that render the lands unsuitable for agricultural use."

The commission stated that the Pelton proposal, if it were approved, would "negatively affect the agricultural suitability of the neighbouring properties."

The proposed exclusion would have been an "intrusion" into the land reserve and would have eroded other farmland by "fueling speculation and precipitating similar requests from adjacent property owners," the commission stated in its decision.

mrantanen@mrtimes.com