Hello. My family owns a 200…

Hello. My family owns a 200-acre property in the Township of Adjala-Tosorontio (in Simcoe County). The Township has zoned all of our property as 'Agricultural', despite the fact that only 50 acres of it has ever been farmed. Meanwhile, the County has zoned the property as 'Greenlands', despite it not being located in the Greenbelt. As a result of these zoning decisions, my family is not allowed to subdivide and build houses on the property at all.

However, in Cottage Country (which is considered to have sparse development) houses are built on ~4.0 acre plots of land. Our property is located 100-200 kilometers closer to Toronto than Cottage Country and I think most people would agree that it does not make sense that a family cannot make at least a few severances and build a few houses on its 150 acres of Non-Farmland, Non-Wetlands, Non-Greenbelt property in Southern Ontario.

I ask that the Province consider making the Official Plans of Adjala-Tosorontio and Simcoe County consistent with other more reasonable jurisdictions within Ontario, such as the Township of Lanark Highlands. In Lanark Highlands, a family is permitted to subdivide their land such that there can be four lots created per every 100-acre original lot parcel. This change would result in one house being located on every 25 acres of land, which still constitutes extremely sparse development.

This policy is outlined in Lanark Highlands' Official Plan, under "Lot Creation Section 3.3.3". The relevant subsection 3.3.3.3 reads "Up to three (3) consents, excluding the retained lot, may be granted for a lot or land holding existing as of April 1, 2003". This land severance rule applies to all Rural Lands, which includes Agricultural Lands. (However, perhaps this rule would be amended so that there would be a limited reduction or no reduction in land which is actively being farmed). Please find a link to the Official Plan of Lanark Highlands here:

https://www.lanarkhighlands.ca/images/Final_Approved_with_OPA_3_19-06-2…