Agricultural Lot Severances…

Agricultural Lot Severances
Residential lot creation in prime agricultural areas has been discouraged since the Countryside Planning/Foodland Guidelines were issued by the Province of Ontario in the 1970s. The purpose of this provincial-wide planning document was to ensure the protection of prime agricultural land for food production.

The Counties of Prescott and Russell is a prime agricultural area and agriculture is extremely important to the economy and the production of food. For the past 23 years, the county has had strong Official Plan policies protecting this agricultural resource and directing non-agricultural related development to settlement areas. The Province’s proposal to allow for scattered residential development through lot creation does not further the interests of the agricultural industry.
The opening up of scattered residential lot creation in the prime agricultural areas may
• increase conflict with modern farming practices,
• increase MDS restrictions on the placement of new barns;
• reduce the number of units being built in settlement areas where municipalities have invested substantial funds on services (hard and soft),
• lost opportunities for infrastructure efficiency in settlement areas;
• and increase the demand on municipalities to provide enhanced rural services e.g., more frequent snow plowing, road maintenance, garbage collection, emergency services, etc.

It is requested that the Province provide clarification on the criteria in the policies for creating new residential lots e.g., what is considered to be adjacent to a non-agricultural use and what are lower-priority agricultural lands. It is unclear if this is limited to adjacent to Settlement Areas, Recreational uses and Institutional uses, or does it open it up for 3 new residential lots next to all existing residences including farm residences and those that have been severed as surplus. And further, does this also allow residential lot creation on any area that a farm considers lower priority or inconvenient to farm rather than just areas with lower capability soils.

If the Province’s intention is to permit 3 residential lots from every farm parcel, this has the potential to result in thousands of non-farm-related lots in the agricultural area across the County. The Province should reconsider this substantial policy direction change and the long-term effects it will have on the protection of prime agricultural lands and maintaining the ability for farmers to farm. In addition, there may be other unintended consequences such as the effect of additional residences on the potential for future aggregate extraction.

Settlement Area Expansion
The UCPR is supportive of the change to streamline the process for expanding settlement areas where required based on adequate servicing (provided priority is given to expansion in fully serviced areas), logical extensions and addressing agricultural impacts. This is a more efficient use of land than scattered residential lots in the prime agricultural areas. The Province only encourages municipalities to set density targets for these expanded areas, but should give consideration to stronger language to ensure efficient use of these additional development lands.