TORONTO – The Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) has sided with local farmers and overruled a Wellington North committee in a Jan. 19 decision.
Elgin and Joan Craig operate a beef farm along Highway 6 near Arthur, and applied in 2022 to sever a chunk of their land to build a home for their retirement.
A Wellington County committee gave its consent with strings attached: the Craigs would have to get approval from a township adjustment committee for an exception to zoning rules.
To the family’s disappointment, council members, acting as the adjustment committee, felt the exception wasn’t minor and voted against it.
Last summer, the Craigs retained a law firm and appealed the Wellington North decision to the land tribunal. The tribunal makes binding rulings in disputes over land use planning.
The Craigs were represented by Eric Davis and Giovanni Giuga, and the township by Chris Manning.
At issue in the dispute was the minimum distance required between homes and agricultural operations.
Considering where the Craigs wanted to build a home on the severed chunk of land and a hog barn across the road, the family would need the township to make an exception to the minimum distance.
Wellington North chief building official Darren Jones paid a visit to the hog farmer, Henry Van Ankum, but Van Ankum wouldn’t let him on the property to inspect the various barns to see what was in use and what wasn’t for a distance calculation.
So Jones used the barn closest to the Craig’s property, a choice the tribunal supported, according to DeBoer’s decision.
DeBoer wrote that the township committee also made the right call in denying the Craig’s request, based on the fact that the exception wasn’t minor.
However, Van Ankum presented new evidence during the tribunal hearing, including a witness statement, testimony and photos, demonstrating that only one barn, farthest away from the Craig’s property, was actively used.
With a recalculated distance, based on Van Ankum’s evidence, the tribunal ruled the exception was minor and found the Craig’s application “desirable” and the use of the land “appropriate.”
DeBoer wrote the land in question has not been, and cannot be used as prime farmland — a point reiterated several times in the Craig’s discussion with council.
According to the OLT decision, the exception is permitted, and the Craigs can proceed with next steps in building a house on the property for their retirement.
