As a 30 year resident of…

As a 30 year resident of Peel Township (now part of Mapleton) I understand and value the preservation of contiguous prime agricultural and environmentally sensitive land. I also believe that restricting farming practices primarily because of neighbouring residential development is unproductive. Unfortunately we are at the point where somebody is going to identify a problem with virtually every piece of land that is developed. The lowest levels of concern for protection must be dropped. At the same time, we can make better use of the land that is developed with higher densities.

Although municipally serviced land can support much higher density, there is also value to increasing the density of rural serviced land that has already been developed and developing land that is not sensitive or ideal for modern farming practices. Blocking all rural development wastes this potential. Protecting an entire township or municipality without regard to land quality or shape is not productive. Some rules may also be outdated. Do we really need lots to be a minimum of 1 acre with the new technology that is available for septic systems? Is the cost of supplying municipal water to smaller settlements justified by the increase in density that it allows?

We have good, smart people in place in our local municipalities. Can we not use this talent to help implement ‘best practices’ instead of solely determining if something falls within some all-encompassing, politically motivated policy.

To the extent that these new policies allow our local talent to actually use some judgment and develop innovative solutions, I say amen!