To Whom It May Concern,…

To Whom It May Concern,

Thank you for the opportunity to review the proposed changes to the Official Plan to Perth County and more specifically, those changes in Perth South which directly impact our small acreage.

Our property is located on the Southern boundary of Perth County and the north boundary road of Zorra County. It consists of 45.6 acres comprised of old forest, managed woodlot (20 acres), open area pasture, barn and a new house built in 2002. At the time of purchase, we did our due diligence to ensure that we could build and obtain a building permit. We purchased our property as an investment in real estate and as a good recreation property close to all amenities. When we were informed of the 'new' updated Official Plan, we were wondering how it would affect our property.

It turns out that the County has not been preserving forested areas and therefore, intends to remove or claim areas from landowners under the guise of a zoning change to increase their number of acres and percentage of tree cover (i.e., meet their guidelines).

The areas on our property of concern to us are the areas that are currently zoned Agriculture that were reforested back in 1980-1993 (i.e., managed woodlot; 20 acres). These trees are growing well and add natural beauty to our property. It's a dream come true for us. Our concern is having to give up our existing Agriculture zoning (which has not hindered the woodlot) to the proposed new zoning of NE or Natural Environment.

As our Realtor informed us, Agriculture “A” zoning currently values at $37,000./ac or higher, whereas Natural Environment “NE” zoning currently values at $7,000./ac. We have 20 acres that the County wants to rezone to NE. This will decrease the land value of our real property by $600,000. Further, we are concerned that potential purchasers will consider there are too many rules and regulations involved for any upgrading down the road because of the NE zoning. Our property will be overlooked, in favour of other properties that pose fewer hurdles. Plus, why would they believe anything the County says, as the County does want it wants, without regard to the burden placed on the property owner, whether it be financial or otherwise.

In speaking with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and Policy Analysts, we have learned that we are right to be concerned. According to Policy Analysts, “Natural Environment” and other environmental protection zones typically have more land use restrictions in place, making it hard to develop and less in-demand on the market. As a result, properties with these zones tend to have lower resale values.

We would like to see the County get their numbers/meet their guidelines WITHOUT changing our Agriculture zoning, as this is an unnecessary burden on us as the landowner and caregiver of the woodlots. This would allow the County to say that they have increased tree cover without lowering the real estate value of our property and we would be happy to have helped. We love our property and want to enjoy our land without feeling the County has robbed us of our children's future financial well-being.

Please Note: We tried to express our concerns and objections throughout this process. We had site visits early on in the process. We met with Senior Policy Planners at the Perth South Office. When discussing the Managed Woodlot, they advised us that if the woodlot were cleared in the future, we could re-apply to have the 'NE' zoning removed and Agriculture zoning reinstated. Of course, this would take time and money! How ridiculous. More red-tape at our expense.

They also stated that we could file a formal letter of objection and/or seek legal counsel to fight the changes, but they agreed to get back to us with the outcome of their additional investigations before we made an ultimate decision. Unfortunately, the Policy Planner team did not follow through. When we followed up with them again, we were informed of the Notice of the Official Plan Adoption. We were very disappointed in their lack of follow through.

Subsequently, we reached out to our local MPP for assistance.

In closing, we would like to see the County get their numbers/meet their guidelines WITHOUT changing our Agriculture zoning, as this is an unnecessary burden on us as the landowner and caregiver of the woodlots. This would allow the County to say that they have increased tree cover without lowering the real estate value of our property and we would be happy to have helped. We love our property and want to enjoy our land without feeling the County has robbed us of our children's future financial well-being.

And again, in speaking with the OFA and Policy Analysts, we are right to be concerned. According to Policy Analysts, “Natural Environment” and other environmental protection zones typically have more land use restrictions in place, making it hard to develop and less in-demand on the market. As a result, properties with these zones tend to have lower resale values.

We are appreciate your attention to this injustice!