WFA, Mapleton council discuss balancing farm land use planning priorities

MAPLETON – Wellington Federation of Agriculture (WFA) past president Janet Harrop and current president Barclay Nap attended a Mapleton council meeting on Jan. 27 to talk about farm land use planning. 

Harrop outlined the following 10 principals for planners and councillors to consider in order to support agriculture through municipal land use planing.

1. On-farm diversification is critical to economically sustainable agriculture in Ontario It helps farmers stay on the land, helps sustain the industry, improves income streams and provides employment opportunities, Harrop said.  

2. Local agriculture and produce are good for the economy and the community’s health. 

3. Protecting farmland is good.  

4. An evolving definition of agriculture is good – it allows farmers to pursue diversified initiatives while maintaining a connection to farming, Harrop said. 

5. A connection to agriculture is good. “As long as the proposed use has clear connection to the farm, there may be additional economic opportunities,” states Harrop’s presentation. “Direct farm marketing and agritourism are mechanisms by which some farmers are able to economically survive.”

6. Flexibility is good. “Wherever possible, use as-of-right zoning to permit a wider range of agricultural-related and on-farm diversified uses,” the WFA recommends.

7. Policy and definitions should be as clear as possible to limit differing interpretations, Harrop said. “Always, if you move away from policy and you make exceptions then the next exception will get a little bit bigger, so you have to be really clear what your policy is and really stick to those.”

At the same time, Harrop noted “sometimes a little bit of wiggle room in the situation actually makes a lot of sense.”  

8. Compatibility between different land uses is good. 

9. Fairness in the property tax system is good. “On-farm diversification is about providing farmers with more opportunities. The property tax system should support the agricultural nature of agriculture-related and on-farm diversified uses,” Harrop’s presentation states. 

10. Recognizing different geographies is good. “Communities will benefit from policy that addresses the diverse local needs,” Harrop states. 

Councillor Michael Martin said he appreciates dialogue with the WFA, but some of the principals are in competition. 

He said in his 11 years on council, he’s seen applications for “full blown manufacturing facilities going in on side roads.” 

These facilities are arguably secondary to farming taking place on site, Martin said, though “certainly not (secondary) in revenue.” 

He said while diversifying revenue streams for the agricultural community is important, zoning change applications often come in for properties that are 10 to 15 minutes away from areas that are already zoned appropriately. 

 “And we can of course talk about surplus farm dwellings, which keep me up at night,” Martin added. 

He offered the example of a farm near Teviotdale for which a severance application came before council on Jan. 13. “Essentially a vacant lot – a brand new house gets built, then suddenly it’s surplus.

“I know the OFA (Ontario Federation of Agriculture) has a stance on surplus farm dwellings and you don’t want to see subdivisions and strip developments happening in a rural community, but I would argue it’s happening regularly despite the [objections] of the OFA and WFA,” Martin said. 

On the other hand, Mapleton celebrated local farmers on Jan. 13 for earning national recognition for their sheep farm – “They’ve got diversified use; that one makes a lot of sense to me,” Martin said. “But we also have a lot of situations where it’s not cut and dry, so clarity is good, but for every policy that gets created there’s wiggle room, and then our planners are put in difficult situations.”

Martin asked Harrop how she sees shifting land use planning policies play out in the long term: “Are we going to see a Mini Mart on the 8th of Peel one day, and just think ‘What happened? Didn’t see that coming.’ Well, maybe we should have.”  

Harrop said the WFA has been discussing the Teviotdale application “and the intent of policies and how people try to circumvent them.” 

She said purchasing farmland with an existing house on it, and then declaring that house surplus, is different than building a new house and then declaring that surplus.  

The OFA has policy staff and planners that “live and breathe this,” Harrop said, and “if we have something that is a little bit in that grey zone we will reach out to them and say ‘this is policy in this situation – how should it be applied?’” 

“That’s where we see our role with local municipalities being really valuable because we can access that resource at OFA and then provide some of that feedback,” she said. 

Unlike some other municipalities, Mapleton is forthcoming with sharing planning documents, she said, so the WFA can comment on applications heading to Wellington County.

Harrop said the WFA is often unaware of applications until they review meeting agendas, “because we are not on [Wellington County’s] circulation list – although we have requested to be, we are not.”  

Harrop and Nap both gave their cell phone numbers to Mapleton council and encouraged them to reach out any time. 

“Barclay and myself are always available,” Harrop said.