MAPLETON – Local business owners wanting to operate a construction company from a rural property near Alma aren’t taking no for an answer.
John and Marlene Horst are appealing Mapleton’s decision to stop them from operating J-M Building Contractors at 7433 Wellington Road 7.
The appeal is set to be heard by the Ontario Land Tribunal over three days, starting Nov. 12.
Current prime agricultural land zoning doesn’t permit the business to run from an accessory building on the property — and yet the company has operated there since 2020.
“We would like to stay within this community to continue to serve it as we had in the past,” John Horst told the Advertiser.
After a rezoning application to allow an accessory building on the property was denied in 2019, the Horsts returned the following year with a new application.
Council said yes in 2020, so long as the building was only used for personal storage.
The Horsts then built the 650-square-metre (7,000 square feet) structure from which the business now operates.
But someone complained to the township about the building being used for business, and following a staff investigation, the Horsts returned to council with yet another zoning amendment application last year.
Wellington County planners did not support the third request in 2024, citing county official plan policy restricting what prime agricultural land can be used for. Businesses must be agriculture related, or supplement farm income.
County planners suggested the business be located in an urban centre, but Horst said at the time it wasn’t economically feasible.
Horst noted the business doesn’t remove land from agricultural production, or affect nearby farms.
Neighbouring farmers and other Mapleton residents expressed support for the amendment last year.
They said the business doesn’t hinder farming, and provides a valuable asset to the community.
But council denied the Horsts’ third attempt anyway, saying the Horsts had intentionally deceived them in using the building for business, and that agricultural land needed protecting.
Horst said his lawyer previously told council the accessory building was only for storage. But Horst said the intention was always for it to be used for business.
Horst told the Advertiser the discrepancy was “an error made on our part.”
The land tribunal intends to consider whether keeping the business in the building is in the public interest and represents good land use.
Mapleton Mayor Gregg Davidson did not respond to the Advertiser’s request for comment.
