Old Order Mennonites ask council for help in search of land for parochial school, church

WELLINGTON NORTH – Is it worth giving up prime agricultural land to make way for a parochial elementary school and a church?

Council here pondered that question on April 11 during a delegation from committee members of the Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference (MWMC), a progressive Old Order Mennonite church established in 1939.

Ralph Martin, and others belonging to the church’s site committee, delegated before council seeking its support should the church make an application to the county to remove land from prime agriculture, bordered by Line 2 and County Road 14, and located beyond Arthur’s urban boundary.

“We feel a church and school would benefit the Mennonite growth in the township, which in turn would benefit the community and service providers in the area,” states an MWMC document submitted to council.

The group has been on the search for between seven and eight acres of land in Arthur over the past three years and have come close to finding space, but continue getting bumped back to square one after developers buy up land before agreements with landowners are made.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to find a lot the size we are looking for which could be zoned institutional,” the MWMC document states.

Now they’re searching north beyond Arthur’s urban boundary.

Pine Haven Holsteins has offered a portion of their 50 acre property, located adjacent to Arthur’s norther limits on County Road 14 and south of Line 2.

Council discussed its limited role as an advocate with influence on county land planning, and the pros and cons of supporting a recommendation to convert land out from prime agricultural.

“We can have influence on the decision, we could make a recommendation to [the] land division committee and the county planning to request an official plan amendment and or severance in this position, but we don’t have the decision-making authority,” Mayor Andy Lennox explained.

CAO Mike Givens said the group is likely frustrated after making a concerted effort to find property within the urban boundary for several years.

“They’ve looked in multiple locations for opportunities and they’ve come up against roadblocks, some of them being process as it relates to the [municipal comprehensive review], and some being lands have been sold to other developers who aren’t looking to support the building of a church and a school,” Givens said.

Considering how focused Arthur has become on residential development, Givens said the group will have a “tough battle” finding land.

“They’re gonna keep getting the same answer over and over and over, unfortunately, unless this council is going to make an effort with the county around severance applications and official plan amendments during the term of the [municipal comprehensive review],” he said.

As the county undergoes its official plan review, amendments are likely off the table.

“I’m not hearing a lot of thumbs up or thumbs down on this one, so we gotta come to some sort of thought on where we want to go with it, or where we want to encourage them to go with it, or not,” Lennox said.

Councillor Sherry Burke was the only councillor who voiced an apparent stance on the matter.

“I would rather like to see something maybe in the future development lands,” she said. “Prime ag is prime ag and they don’t make any of that anymore.”

Following a lengthy silence as councillors mulled things over, Lennox again said he wasn’t seeing a consensus emerge but said, from his perspective, he would think more about what council could do.

Martin said he wanted MWMC’s plight to return to council, and for a decision to be made about whether it would help support their case at the county level.