The New Farm revises ag-commercial rezoning application
A proposal to rezone a portion of a 6/7 Sideroad Nottawasaga farm from agriculture to agriculturally related commercial has drawn opposition from neighbours.
The property is home to The New Farm, owned by organic vegetable farmers Brent Preston and Gillian Flies, who are advocates for organic and regenerative farming.
Preston said they have lived on the farm for 20 years and have been farming it for more than 15 years.
“We have tried to be good neighbours,” he told council members at a March 29 public meeting.
Consultant David Finbow presented The New Farm’s application. He said permitted on-farm diversified uses include agri-tourism, value added products and processing. Proposed uses in The New Farm proposal include a Farm Sustainability Centre with educational sessions, tastings, cooking classes and meals prepared in the New Farm Kitchen, farm tours and occasional special events focussed on the farm experience and local agricultural products and foods as an extension of the Farm Sustainability Centre with a maximum of 120 guests (indoor and open air).
“The application that was submitted was quite broad and we certainly have narrowed the scope of the application and the uses that are proposed partly because we never intended on proceeding with some of these uses and partly because we’re hearing from the neighbours, the public, in terms of their concerns, so we’re listening,” said Finbow.
Preston apologized for causing misunderstandings by including permitted uses in the proposal that caused concern.
He outlined the vision behind the application: “It has become apparent that there is a need to provide a place where fellow farmers, educators, food industry professionals, and all those interested in learning about sustainable farm practices can come and learn first-hand what this entails and how they can implement these practices. To address this, we propose to offer tours of our greenhouses, gardens, and fields along with educational sessions, tastings and meals produced from the local area within the New Farm Kitchen/Farm Sustainability Centre. In addition, it is proposed to occasionally hold special events to celebrate the farm experience and local agricultural products and foods.”
He said they are not proposing to establish a retail store, restaurant or cafe, as stated in the original application and that a revision will be submitted. He said they do not propose any severances, overnight accommodation or marketing agri-tourism to the general public.
They do propose: “A place where people can come, take farm tours, enjoy a meal on the farm. But these would be groups of people who book in advance and we control the numbers of people. It is not members of the public randomly showing up,” said Preston.
The visits would have an educational focus, including tours of gardens, fields and greenhouses. Tours would be limited to up to 30 people based on the capacity of the kitchen facility, an ancillary building with a cooking facility, dining area, and bunks. Larger events are proposed three times per year, with 40 designated parking spots included in the plan.
Preston told The Echo the revised proposal will refine permitted uses to include only those related to research and education, and the forthcoming bylaw will not include anything related to agri-tourism.
Preston is the current president of Farms for Climate Solutions, a coalition of 27 farm organizations representing more than 27,000 farmers and ranchers. Flies is the past president of the Canadian Organic Growers, representing 8,000 organic farmers.
“We realize through this work that there is a need for a place where people can come and see the kind of practices that we’re proposing in action. Enjoy a meal made from produce that comes from Clearview and see these kind of practices that are improving the climate performance of agriculture.”
The New Farm is also the host of the annual Farms for Change event.
Several neighbours spoke in opposition to the proposal, saying there has been some miscommunication.
“They have the right to make a dollar but not at the expense of making a commercial area in an agricultural area. We have been protecting the land and I want to continue to do that,” said 6/7 Sideroad Nottawasaga resident Alma Fillion.
“Everything is becoming commercialized on a road that has been preserved for 200 years and it’s about time that modernization and socialization doesn’t ruin actual livelihood of the farm, the lands and everything we are saying, as Clearview, that we stand by, which is conventional farming, farmlands, wildlife, and protected lands,” said another member of the Fillion household.
Other neighbours submitted written comments and spoke in opposition about the uses, saying the Farms for Change event is disruptive to themselves and their livestock.
The application also includes the construction of a new farm dwelling located 783 metres from the primary dwelling, more than the allowed 50 metres.
The plan is to convert the existing house to farm help accommodation and build a new house to the east.
