Dakota’s Truck Services looks to expand outside Arthur

KENILWORTH – A truck and farming equipment repair shop may be coming to a rural property just outside Arthur. 

Dakota’s Truck Services has a shop in Centre Wellington, and owner Dakota Rogers told council he wants to expand in Wellington North because farmers are asking him to do so. 

He's looking to rezone nine hectares of land at 8051 Wellington Road 109 from agricultural to industrial for the expansion. 

“I’ve been getting a lot of pressure over the last number of years from the community in Wellington North, pushing me to get up here so they don’t have to drive 35 minutes (to the Centre Wellington shop),” Rogers said during a Jan. 26 public meeting. 

“I see a big opportunity up here in Wellington North.”

The new site, just east of Arthur’s urban boundary, would include a 2,850-square-metre shop, outdoor display areas and storage areas, tractor trailer parking and turnaround areas, a shop parking area and a storm water management pond. 

There would be driveways coming from both Wellington Road 109 and 1st Line. 

Rogers is set to make up for some of the lost farmland by redesignating three hectares at 7556 1st Line from rural employment to prime agricultural. 

Provincial policies permit agricultural-related uses on farmland, as long as they support local agriculture by directly providing products or services to farms and don't hinder surrounding farms. 

Wellington County’s official plan allows the same "in appropriate locations and subject to zoning provisions.” 

Rogers attests the business would be permitted on prime agricultural land without the rezoning, but rezoning to industrial is necessary for him to conduct vehicle safety certifications. 

“That’s a huge part of our business – one of the main things we do to keep these things on the road,” he said. 

Rogers noted many farmers have their own mechanics who visit farms for onsite work, but they depend on businesses like Dakota’s Truck Services to get vehicles safetied. 

And he said it’s not just tractors that belong to local farmers; many of the trucks he services are from farms, too, such as grain haulers. 

Van Harten Surveying land use planner Chris Corosky, representing Rogers, said while the site won’t be “a place where crops will be grown, [it will] be a place where machines that help grow crops can be serviced.” 

Corosky added the business is a good economic development opportunity for Wellington North, noting tDakota’s Truck Service currently employs between 12 and 15 people, and that number would hopefully grow with the expansion. 

The large property is necessary, Corosky said, because of the size of the trucks and tractors being serviced. 

Councillor Steve McCabe supported the application, particularly“the land use swap. 

“I think this is a good use of agricultural land for farmers out here and for tractor trailers as well, so thank you.” 

Councillor Lisa Hern, however, questioned the rezoning. 

“Agricultural land is our largest asset here in Wellington North and it is a finite resource, so I think we need to treat this very carefully,” she said.

Councillor Penny Renken shared Hern's hesitation.

“I do have concerns about prime agricultural land being utilized for non-real agricultural products being produced,” said Renken, adding she is happy to see the land swap included. 

Corosky argued the shop is an appropriate use of the land as it is directly related to farms in the area, it supports local agriculture and is close to farms. 

It’s also compatible with the surrounding lands, Corosky said, which include industrial uses. 

A range of technical reports and studies were submitted with the application, including a planning justification report, an agriculture impact assessment, traffic study, noise impact study, archaeological assessments and a conceptual plan.  

Hern said she found it “a little disturbing” the applicant has ventured “so far down the planning process without actually considering the agricultural impact.”

She wished the studies were done independently, instead of  applicant-driven, questioning whether the results were “geared toward a specific outcome.” 

Mayor Andy Lennox expressed concerns about land use conflicts with the existing at house on the property.

Rogers said he will continue to rent the house out to people who work for him at the shop, so land use conflicts are unlikely.

McCabe called the application “right in line with [provincial policies] and right in line with what our farmers need in this area. It’s a great economic development.” 

He added, “I’m not sure what the real pushback against this actually is.”