KENILWORTH – Residential development will not be permitted on an agricultural lot at 8449 Line 2, northeast of Arthur.
That’s because the existing home on the lot has been severed from the rest of the farm, on the condition that the retained land be rezoned to prevent future development.
This rezoning is standard for farm dwelling severances, as per the provincial policy statement and the Wellington County Official Plan.
According to a report prepared by county planners, the intention of farm severance policies “is to allow farmers to reduce their costs of acquiring additional farm parcels where the impact on existing and future farm operations can be kept to a minimum.”
A public meeting about the rezoning was held on July 28, with no members of the public offering comment. Notice of the public meeting was mailed to applicable agencies and property owners within 120 metres of the lot and posted on-site on July 2.
The severance was approved conditionally by the County of Wellington in January, and the Township of Wellington North approved the rezoning on July 28 after the public meeting.
Township planner Zachary Prince said there was some “back and forth” about the severance application, which was deferred before its conditional approval from the county.
The retained lot is 35 hectares (87 acres) with a 743 square-metre (8,000 square foot) farm shed. The severed residential parcel is one hectare (2.5 acres) and includes an existing home. It has a frontage of 27.5 metres (90 feet), whereas the township bylaw permits a minimum frontage of 30.5m (100 feet).
During the public meeting, councillor Penny Renken asked why the severed parcel was an unusual shape with a small frontage instead of a rectangular shape, and “why it has to be such a large area of 2.5 acres.
“I think we’ve talked before about reducing the amount of acreage for severances such as this. Could it not be a half acre, or one at the most, and then you still have about 1.5 or two acres that can be used for prime farmland?”
Mayor Andy Lennox noted the severance application had previously come before council, which made recommendations to Wellington County’s land division “around reducing the footprint and trying to make the shape more regular.
“And this is what land division has approved. Whether it’s consistent with our recommendations or not is up to your interpretation,” Lennox said.
“What we are faced with today is the rezoning of the agricultural parcel because land division has the authority to make that decision on the severance, and it’s up to us to decide whether we’re going to rezone the agricultural portion to allow this to proceed.”
Councillor Lisa Hern said while she does agree with the rezoning, “I’m still upset that we had requested it be under two acres” and for the shape to be more regular, but the changes were not made. Hern said it seems like the severance renders the remaining agricultural lot inefficient to farm, which goes against provincial policy, but she doesn’t think there’s anything she can do about it.
The land is zoned agricultural and natural environment by the township; is designated prime agriculture, core greenlands and greenlands by the county; and includes a significant wooded area and Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) regulated wetlands. The GRCA expressed no objections to the rezoning.
