Just what can and can't be viewed as legitimate agricultural uses on farmland was the focus for Delta council recently as it considered a rezoning application by a local seed business.
Following a public hearing late last year at municipal hall, council unanimously approved an application by West Coast Seeds Ltd. to move to a property it purchased at 5300-34B Ave.
Looking to relocate and expand its operations, West Coast Seeds Ltd., which will keep its retail store on Elliott Street in Ladner Village, sought to move its current seed packing and distribution from a barn on 64th Street to the new Ladner location, which is also in the Agricultural Land Reserve. The proposal also includes seed trials and a demonstration garden.
When the application originally came before council, a staff report noted that while it included some agricultural uses, it didn't meet Delta's or the Agricultural Land Commission's requirements.
A couple of neighbours who own farmland also
conveyed opposition, saying a commercial packing, warehouse and distribution facility has nothing to do with agriculture, noting most of the seeds would be imported from other countries.
They also claimed the application conflicts with an existing legal covenant stipulating the land is for farming proposes only.
The Delta Farmers' Institute stated it would only support the application if a number of conditions were met, including the ALC requirement of a minimum 50 per cent of product produced on the farm for processing, packaging and storing.
At the hearing, Bruce Hart, the architect for the applicant, told council the ALC panel reviewed the proposal and found the seed business will continue to provide benefits to agriculture. He also noted the provincial agriculture and environment ministries reviewed the issue of the covenant, finding "the proposal meets both the spirit and intent" of the covenant.
Supporting the application, farmer Ken Bates noted Delta farmland in the past was home to two seed distribution and receiving facilities in B.C. Sugar and Columbia Seed.
One of the opponents noted the DFI has not really endorsed the application and that it would be impossible for West Coast Seeds to ever be able to have 50 per cent locally grown seeds at the location. Saying it should be considered a light industrial and not a farming
operation, Victor Marks said it all comes down to a matter of fairness for other legitimate farm business that grow their product.
"It makes all the other farmers who adhere to this with their stands look like a bunch of chumps... the question is who gets a pass and why," said Marks.
Coun. Ian Paton said non-farm uses for agricultural purposes is nothing new in Delta, pointing to several past and present examples, including a yogurt operation at a local dairy farm and bio-gas facility at an East Ladner farm.
"This is the trend now.
We want to see agriculture survive, but we have to give it the opportunity," Paton said.
Mayor Lois Jackson agreed, saying they need to save the farmers, not just the land. The province is also allowing variances to the 50 per cent rule, she added.
