REQUEST FOR DECISION
DATE: November 9, 2015 Report No. DEV-15-063
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Marlene Lagoa, Community Development Coordinator
SUBJECT:
Title
Draft Minister's Bylaw Standards on Agri-tourism and Farm Retail Sales
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That Council receive Staff Report DEV-15-063 for information
Body
RELEVANT POLICY:
Local Government Act
Agricultural Land Commission Act
Official Community Plan Bylaw, 2007, No. 2646
STRATEGIC RELEVANCE:
This Request for Decision does not relate to a specific Council Strategic Priority.
BACKGROUND:
At the Council meeting held on October 26, 2015, Council received the Email from Derek Sturko, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, dated October 6, 2015, Re: Draft Minister's Bylaw Standards on Agri-tourism and Farm Retail Sales and directed staff to forward the communication to the Environmental Advisory Committee for review and input.
The Email was addressed to all local government stakeholders in British Columbia requesting feedback on the proposed Minister's Bylaw Standards for regulating agri-tourism and farm retail sales in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
The Township of Esquimalt has only one parcel of land within the Agricultural Land Reserve. That parcel is the Gorge Vale Golf Course which was first established in 1930. In 1973, the provincial government introduced BC's Land Commission Act as a way to address the erosion of agricultural land due to development. At the time the use of land in the Agriculture Land Reserve as a golf course was permitted subject Commission approval and compliance with local government bylaws. Due to the large volume of golf course proposals being received, the provincial government removed golf course as a potential use in the late 1980s. However, the use of Esquimalt's Agricultural Land Reserve by the Gorge Vale Golf Course had been approved and was grandfathered as an acceptable use....
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