MAPLETON – An application to build a Mennonite school in rural Mapleton has been rejected by the township.
Council, concerned about how it might affect neighbouring farms and whether there’s a need for a school in that location at all, voted down the application during a Nov. 25 meeting.
But the final decision is not in Mapleton council’s hands – its opposition to the application will be passed on to Wellington County’s land division committee, which will determine where things go from here.
The application proposes severing one hectare (2.5 acres) from an 80-hectare (200-acre) farm to accommodate a Mennonite parochial school at 7590 12th Line, near Parker.
The farm is within a prime agricultural area and currently has a home, sheds and a barn, which would all remain on the larger lot.
Wellington County designates the land prime agricultural, and would permit the school’s construction as it falls under permitted community service facilities, which include “schools, churches and cemeteries required for local communities that rely extensively on horse-drawn vehicles as their sole means of transportation,” according to its official plan.
If the school is built on the severed lot, it would not meet provincial minimum distance separation (MDS) requirements for three neighbouring livestock facilities.
This could be addressed through township zoning provisions, according to a staff report about the application.
The owners of one of the neighbouring farms are against the plan to build the school.
Eileen Downey, who has owned the farm beside the proposed school for over 70 years, said the school “would have a detrimental impact, significantly restricting my farm and long-term investment as well as restricting neighbouring farm properties, the local farming economy and the long-term preservation of agricultural land in our community.”
The proposed school would be 150 metres from one of Downey’s outbuildings, whereas the MDS requirement is 496 metres, so the reduction is “not minor in nature,” Downey wrote in a letter to council.
She said she is concerned about the loss of prime agricultural land, and suggests “the school be located in areas already designated for community or institutional uses, rather than on irreplaceable valuable farmland.”
She added she’s also concerned about roadway safety issues – especially as the road does not have hard shoulders – that could come from increased traffic caused by the school, including motorized and horse-drawn vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles.
Downey’s children Theresa Campbell and Mike Downey, a former Mapleton councillor, spoke on her behalf during the council meeting, expressing doubt that there is a need for the school for locals relying exclusively on horse-drawn vehicles.
“We have been in this community all our lives and we are respectful of various cultural values,” Campbell said.
“We also understand the importance of agricultural farming operations and the significant long-term agricultural investments.”
She suggested an alternate location be considered – one that does not conflict with neighbouring farms – or that an already existing parochial school be expanded instead.
Campbell asked council to “consider the significant impacts and ongoing viability of farm operations and the broader agricultural community in Mapleton and not to support this application.”
Councillor Michael Martin said he found many of the Downey family’s arguments compelling, particularly whether there’s actually a need for the school.
“Despite my last name and my heritage, I do think there needs to be a demonstrated need for a use like this no matter where it is … I would like to see more of a business case – a demonstrated need for why this should go here and where the kids are going to come from to go to this school.
“I think the neighbouring property owners would probably deserve that too … and if there’s justification for it, I’ll consider it.”
Councillor Lori Woodham asked planner Linda Redmond if the proposed school would be “solely horse and buggy,” and Redmond said she isn’t sure.
Woodham also asked if other, non-prime agricultural locations had been considered, and Redmond replied she isn’t sure about that either, but that in the decades she’s been doing planning in Mapleton, parochial schools have always been on prime ag land, as are Mennonite churches.
“All of them are on prime ag. All of them are taking land from a farm. And they’ve all been approved,” Redmond said, even when they don’t rely entirely on horse-drawn transportation.
She said the county’s official plan includes room for interpretation to allow flexibility and, “That’s how we’ve always applied this section when it comes to the Mennonite population,” referring to the clause about communities relying on horse-drawn vehicles for transportation.
In terms of MDS, Redmond said “all of these ones that we dealt with in the past were in the same boat,” and it was addressed through zoning amendments and reciprocal zoning relief applied to the school and surrounding livestock facilities.
Site-specific exemptions would be applied “so it’s almost as though the school doesn’t exist for the purposes of those livestock facilities,” she said.
“And everybody seemed to be happy with that approach.”
Redmond added the school’s students would all be from the surrounding farming area “because the point in these schools is to accommodate a very small catchment area for these children that live close by that ride their bikes or what have you – they don’t get bused.”
After a lengthy discussion about various options, including recommending that the county’s land division defer the application and ask the applicant to return to Mapleton with a justification for the school, council eventually voted unanimously against the application.
Included with the opposition, which will be provided to the land division committee, is a note asking the committee to ask the applicant to justify the need for the school.
Mayor Gregg Davidson said while the final decision ultimately lies with the county’s land division committee, of which he is a member, the committee does take input from local councils seriously.
If the committee approves the severance, the application would return to Mapleton council for a zoning amendment.
The severance application is to be considered by the land division committee on Jan. 8.
