Councillors here are awaiting their decision on a local rezoning until revised mapping is available.
On March 17, council held a public meeting for rezoning of a property from agricultural to agricultural exception to permit a welding and farm equipment repair shop.
The 100 acre property at 5782 14th Line is owned by Marvin Wideman.
Clerk-administrator Marsha Paley noted that current home industry regulations limit the ground floor to 1,500 square feet and the number of non-resident employees to one. The applicant is proposing a ground floor area of 3,000 square feet, with three employees.
Wellington County planner Mark Van?Patter commented, “Basically what they want to do is increase the size of the shop from 1,500 square feet to 3,000 square feet,” plus have more employees.
In terms of the provincial policy statement and the Wellington County official plan, Van Patter said there are provisions for secondary industries – specifically farm related use.
However, he said the allowable square footage is smaller than some allowed by nearby municipalities.
He added there are elements of the proposed use that are farm-related. “But there are a number of questions which need to be answered,” Van Patter said.
One, he said, is an elaboration on the need for the proposed operation in the local farm community, in addition to who would be residing on the property, who would be working the farmland, and where the employees would come from.
He said one of the issues that needs to be cleared up is revised mapping according to the local conservation authority.
Owner Marvin Wideman said there are no current plans to work on automobiles.
“Basically, it’s just for farm equipment.” He added there were no plans for three employees at this time, but he considered going for that number now rather than having to go through the process another time to increase that number in a few years.
He believed any employees would be local farmers in their spare time working on machinery.
“We actually live close to Linwood; this is a new area for us. We were talking to a local farm equipment repair shop in this area and he thought there would be all kinds of opportunity for such a business. We were relying on that moreso than knowing the area.”
Councillor Rick Hembly asked if building inspector Terry Kuipers had any issue with the proposal. Kuipers did not. Van Patter recommended council delay a decision until revised mapping is made available via the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority.
