Surrey city council has essentially created a new industrial development zone by approving a local plan for an area near the Canada-U.S. border.

Councillors approved the second stage of the local plan for the 615-acre South Campbell Heights area, which is located in the city’s Cloverdale district. The city is now accepting development applications for South Campbell Heights.

“The plan will guide growth and development in terms of land use, transportation and community amenities,” says the city on its website.

The newly designated area is adjacent to Campbell Heights, an established 798-acre business and industrial park.

City council’s approval of the South Campbell Heights area plan frees up more industrial land in Surrey. Industrial land supply has been extremely tight in Surrey and throughout the Vancouver region for years, prompting some investors and developers to relocate facilities and projects to Calgary and other markets.

South Campbell Heights is situated between 20th Avenue and Eighth Avenue. The plan is expected to be fully developed within a decade, pending regulatory approvals, Business in Vancouver has reported.

Allowable uses include mixed employment, which include industrial; conservation and recreation. The plan’s approval came after multiple iterations of city council and staff formulated and approved components and consulted with Metro Vancouver, an umbrella organization for local governments.

(The region is also known colloquially as Metro Vancouver.)

The Surrey Board of Trade (SBOT) welcomed the plan’s approval.

“Especially given the circumstances potentially with the U.S. where we may have 25% tariffs, we need to make sure that we are enhancing our ability to produce domestically, and so this isn’t only a Surrey or Metro Vancouver issue, it is a provincial and a federal issue as well,” Jasroop Gosal, the board’s policy and research manager, told BIV.

Located near the Pacific Highway border crossing, South Campbell Heights is seen as a strategic location for manufacturing and distribution.

“Being a border city with the U.S. to our south, as well as ports and international airports surrounding us, Surrey is the prime location for the expansion of industrial land for the betterment of Metro Vancouver,” Gosal told BIV.

He also told BIV that the new industrial hub will solidify Surrey’s status as a leader in B.C.’s manufacturing sector.

Pictured: Campbell Heights business and industrial park in Surrey, B.C.

Photo: City of Surrey