Revamp right-to-farm law before allowing surplus farmhouse severance says farm group

by SUSAN MANN

The Perth County Federation of Agriculture wants the province to strengthen Ontario’s right-to-farm legislation before Perth County installs a new policy permitting surplus farmhouse severances.

Perth County council began a process this week to draft a policy allowing surplus farmhouse severances under certain circumstances. The county has prohibited the severances since 1997.

Perth County planning and development director Allan Rothwell says there is support within the county for changing the policy and there’s also support for retaining the prohibition on severances.

Perth Federation President Joanne Foster says the organization “would like to see farmers have more rights in the right-to-farm legislation (the Farming and Food Production Protection Act) and we would like to see that enforced better.”

The Act says farmers aren’t liable for disturbing someone when following a normal farm practice to do their farm work.

The federation has been opposed to surplus farmhouse severances unless the right-to-farm legislation is strengthened and “we have not changed our wording yet,” Foster says. Beefing up the Act “will protect farmers rights from nuisance complaints more.”

Foster says farming isn’t a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job. “People moving to the country expecting to find peace and tranquility need to realize that with farming there’s noise, smells and activity.”

The idea of strengthening the Act first before surplus farmhouse severances are allowed is “just the Perth Federation board’s feeling,” she says, noting there are federation members in the county wanting to see the severances and those who are opposed to them.

Rothwell says at Monday’s County Council meeting, council requested staff develop a policy for it to consider at another meeting. Staff presented a report at Monday’s meeting outlining the policies of neighbouring counties and different options for a Perth policy.

Among the ideas some councilors said they’d like to see in the draft severance policy:

• The surplus farmhouse must abut the property it’s being severed from and be on the same side of the road.
• It must be habitable to the satisfaction of the local chief building official.
• The policy would have to apply to the whole county.
• A new dwelling can’t be constructed on the retained land (the land that doesn’t have the surplus farmhouse on it) and there has to be an agreement registered on the title of the property stating that. This conforms to the Provincial Policy Statement, Rothwell says.
• Property owners requesting the severance must have a farm business registration number.

Rothwell says a draft policy is slated to be presented to county council on Nov. 19.

The municipality still has to get feedback from the local municipal councils in Perth and hold public meetings to get citizens’ input. Once all of that input is reviewed and considered, the proposed policy could be changed to reflect those views along with changes suggested by councilors. A finalized proposed policy will likely be put to a vote at a county council meeting sometime next year.

The public meeting will likely be early next year, Rothwell says.

Foster says the federation will talk to representatives from Perth County commodity groups about the need to improve the Act in addition to working with county council “to make it (the new policy) work for everybody.”

The county’s examination of its surplus farmhouse severance policy is part of the municipality’s review of its Official Plan. That review is done every five years. BF