Councillor Walt Visser recently lamented the end of an era as yet another farm was severed recently to make way for large farm operations in Centre Wellington.
As Centre Wellington council held a public meeting to switch a property at 8175 Eramosa-Garafraxa Townline from Agricultural and Environmental Protection to Agricultural Exception and Environmental Protection.
The change would restrict residential use on the property and is a condition of severance issued by Wellington County land division.
Managing director of planning and development Brett Salmon explained the property is at the intersection of Wellington Road 29 and the Eramosa-Garafraxa townline (former Eramosa Township).
Salmon said this is similar to many applications made during the past year involving surplus farm dwelling severances.
He said the lot with the house being severed off is roughly 2.2 hectares with some buildings on it.
“Everything complies with the township’s zoning bylaws so no zoning relief or changes is required for the severed lot,” Salmon explained.
But, he said, the county requires a zoning adjustment on the larger farm parcel to prohibit a residence from being constructed on the 45-hectare property.
He added the portion of the property zoned as environmental protection would remain unchanged.
Salmon noted the proposal has been through, and approved by, the county land division committee.
Councillor Mary Lloyd said in the past, council had placed limits on the number of animal units which could be kept on the smaller residential property.
Salmon said that does not apply in this case, because there is no barn on the residential property which was severed.
Councillor Walt Visser said it seems that small farms are becoming a thing of the past.
“There’s just going to be huge farms.”
Salmon agreed that farms are consolidating into larger operations.
There are houses left over surplus to the farmers’ needed, Salmon said.
“This policy was put into the provincial policy statement to recognize this – and allow for surplus farm dwellings to be severed off.”
He added that many farmers do not want to be landlords and are of the opinion “their farming is complicated enough without needing to become landlords.”
Visser said, “It’s the end of an era.”
Even though he said he understood the reasons it was being done, “it is still sad.”
