Millennium Pacific Greenhouses expanding Delta facility with new housing for 72 farm workers

Delta council has approved an application by Millennium Pacific Greenhouses Ltd. to allow temporary farm worker housing, supporting a major expansion of the company's 66-hectare Arthur Drive facility.

The expansion involves constructing two large greenhouses on the southern portion of the site, south of the existing two greenhouses. The project also includes structures for temporary farm worker housing accommodating 72 workers, plus new office, dining hall, warehousing, and product packing facilities.

The housing plan includes 14 workers in a new farm house and 58 workers in two manufactured modular housing units. Two additional manufactured modular structures with kitchen facilities are also proposed. Pending adoption of a bylaw to include the proposed housing within a sewer extension area, the applicant proposed a temporary septic field to service the residential buildings.

A staff report notes that while an extension of the sewer service area boundary is necessary to connect the buildings to the city's sanitary sewer system, the proposed greenhouses themselves are not included in the sewer area extension. Greenhouse irrigation wastewater will be re-circulated onsite with no discharge to the sanitary sewer system.

The application has been forwarded to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC), where final approval is required. The Delta greenhouse sector has been ramping up production capacity in recent years as cannabis operations and other agricultural enterprises expand across the region.