GUELPH/ERAMOSA - Council approved a consent application that would sever a surplus farm dwelling lot from 5747 Seventh Line.
At Monday’s council meeting, Joanna Salsberg, county planner, explained that E & J Real Estate Holdings Inc. has submitted a consent application on behalf of the farmer that owns the dwelling lot.
The dwelling is an excess to the farmer’s needs, however, it’s currently being used by a group home, which is its current tenant, as per the application.
Salsberg stated that the proposed lot is 3.7 acres in area with 34 metres of frontage and would contain the existing dwelling, portable, barn, shed, and garage. A vacant agricultural parcel of 91.6 acres with 299 metres of frontage would be retained.
The retained land the farmer wants to keep contains a key hydrological feature, which is identified on the survey sketch as core greenlands. The feature is identified as a wetland within the official plan mapping.
Council had no objections to the consent application so long as the applicant meets the requirements, financial or otherwise:
- The applicant must also service the severed lands to the satisfaction of the township
- The owner or applicant must pay the township the required cash-in-lieu contribution for the parkland dedication for the creation of one new lot
- A dwelling be prohibited on the retained lands to the satisfaction of the township and the County of Wellington
- The applicant shall obtain an entrance permit for the retained lands to the satisfaction of the township
- A building permit must be obtained for the portable structure that is 75 metre square to the satisfaction of the township
- A zoning compliance for the portable be obtained to the satisfaction of the township.
- The existing barn on the proposed severed parcel is to be demolished or retrofitted to conform to the standards for a residential accessory building within the requirements of the Ontario Building Code, as amended to the satisfaction of the Township
- The existing building permit on the renovation of the existing house be closed to the satisfaction of the township
However, Coun. Mark Bouwmeester made a comment with regards to the requirement of prohibiting a dwelling on the retained lands:
“It says that a person cannot build a residential unit or a dwelling if you will on the retained land, but understand the preset behind that. It doesn’t make it easy for small time operators to buy a farm, start a farm or if you farm already, you have children and it’s hard to get a big corporation to farm nowadays,” said Bouwmeester.
"I'm not arguing against it, but I think it should be said and it should be understood how hard it is to maintain a farm and extra help like renting a new dwelling goes a long way. I just think it's quite restrictive."
