The Agricultural Land Commission denied an application from the Seventh Day Adventist Church to retain and expand a parking lot and playfield in the Agricultural Land Reserve in Salmon Arm.
The application involving the parcel in the 3000 block of 60th Avenue NE was supported by the city’s agricultural advisory committee as well as city council.
According to the ALC decision, the church application said the parking lot and the playfield were expanded to the east in the mid-1990s onto the second of two parcels in the ALR without permission.
In November 2020, the applicant contacted the ALC for clarification on uses permitted on the first parcel – the westernmost one containing the church buildings. The current application regarding the second parcel was submitted subsequent to the 2020 letter.
The application was part of a larger project to expand the church by 1,700 square metres on the first parcel. The proposal to extend the parking lot and playfield on the second parcel would support the church expansion.
The church expansion would also require removal of an existing shed from the playfield on the second parcel, and the relocation of the septic field from the first parcel onto the second.
The application would also involve the placement of fill and gravel.
The decision of the ALC panel noted that much of the property is currently forested; however, it said, the agricultural capability ratings apply whether the land is cleared or forested. In addition, the ALC pointed to a 520-square metre garden on the property.
“For this reason, the Panel finds the Property is capable of supporting agricultural crops. The Panel considered the proposal to permanently approve the parking lot, playfield, septic system and associated fill on the Property... The proposed non-farm uses on the Property would utilize approximately one-third of the Property and hence the Panel finds that the Proposal would permanently and negatively impact the size of the area available for agriculture... The Panel must consider the long-term impacts of nonfarm uses beyond the current ownership of the Property,” reads the decision.
For the reasons stated, the panel refused the proposal to retain and double the size of the existing 0.11-hectare parking lot and to retain and expand the existing 0.29-hectare playfield to 0.37 hectares.
At the city’s Nov. 7 development and planning meeting, Coun. Tim Lavery remarked on the ALC’s move to protect agricultural land when it’s forested.
“It is really indicative of not just in the past year but the past number of years, a change for the ALC to defend the agricultural capabilities of a property, regardless whether it’s treed or not, and regardless of whether it’s in production or not. So it’s very interesting and I think it adds a further flavour in understanding the ALC rationale,” he said.
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martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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