Two farmers in the Blenkinsop Valley won Saanich council’s support this week to rent out vehicle-storage space on their properties for extra income.
Council agreed to forward the farmers’ temporary-use application to the Agricultural Land Commission, despite a recommendation by the Peninsula and Area Agricultural Commission that it be turned down.
Gordon Galey of Galey Morning Fresh Eggs and Ernie Koettl, who raises sheep, went before council because of a complaint by a member of the public that they were both receiving compensation for storing vehicles on their properties.
Galey has been growing vegetables and producing eggs for 35 years. His father, Don Galey, started a small dairy in Cordova Bay in the late 1930s, before moving to the Blenkinsop Valley in 1985.
He said he resorted to storing vehicles in a 40-year-old barn formerly used for raising chickens to make ends meet in the face of rising costs in running the farm. “I just want to keep my farm,” said Galey.
Koettl said he could “take the easy way out and sell my farm tomorrow,” but chose to rent out car and RV-storage space instead, some indoors and some outside. “Everything costs a pile of money. I have three fields but I still have to lease two more fields to grow enough grass to feed my sheep.”
The vehicles are stored in an area where the ground is rocky and unfit for growing crops, he said.
“The last owner here ran an excavation company. When I first bought the property almost 30 years ago, I had to have soil brought in,” said Koettl, who raised ostriches before he turned to sheep.
His flock now consists of 11 mature sheep and, in a few weeks, up to 15 lambs.
Both farmers are requesting a three-year temporary-use permit, with the option for a three-year extension, for a portion of their properties. The two noted that they are not asking for a rezoning or the removal of any land from the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Galey said he’s happy that Saanich council will now forward their request to the Agricultural Land Commission. “Now I await a decision from the ALC, which was our goal all along.”
He said he expects it will be months before the commission gives its answer. If approved by the ALC, the application will go back to Saanich council for final approval.
Opposition to the application came from the Peninsula and Area Agricultural Commission, a committee whose mandate is to advise the municipalities of Saanich, Central Saanich, North Saanich and Metchosin on matters involving agriculture.
The commission wrote a letter to council opposing the application on the grounds that it constitutes a large-scale commercial enterprise.
Saanich Mayor Dean Murdoch said that there was lively debate at the council meeting on Monday over the application.
“Council usually defaults [to] protecting farmland and the recommendation by the commission was for the owners to try a different type of farming on the property,” he said. “But we also recognize the challenges farmers face to keep their land in production — to continue to farm. In this case, we were made aware that, should the application be denied, that there was a strong chance the properties would change hands. It was a hard call.”
Rob Galey, owner of adjacent Galey Farms and nephew of Gordon Galey, was happy with council’s decision and for his uncle’s sake.
“Both my father and my uncle love farms and farming. They would be the first people to advocate for agriculture to stay strong,” he said. “But the agribusiness is challenging and farmers have to use their land to its fullest potential. My uncle farms 100 per cent of the arable land on his property. Storing vehicles in an old barn is just his way to help pay the bills — and continue to farm.”
Rob Galey, who grows produce on 150 acres in various locations, expanded into agri-tourism in 2000 — with attractions such as a maze and train rides — as a way to educate the public on how food is grown, as well as to supplement his income.
“You have to grow with the market and adapt, and farmers know this. This temporary-use application, if approved, will give both of them enough time to come up with a plan to carry on.”
