The future of an historic farm property in Nanaimo’s Harewood area comes before city council on Monday.
All but one of the scenarios for Five Acre Farm includes a mix of park, farm and recreational use, as well as affordable housing.
The option that proved most popular at an open house and in an online survey would involve dedicating all five acres for park use with no new housing.
In 1884, Samuel Robins, superintendent of the Vancouver Coal Mining and Land Company, bought Harewood Estates, a large parcel of land between Nanaimo and the base of Mount Benson.
He then subdivided the area into five-acre lots, selling them to mining families at affordable prices.
Five Acre Farm is one of the few original properties remaining.
Nanaimo bought the property in 2019 with the idea of using two acres for affordable housing and the rest of the property for recreation, environmental protection and growing food, staff said in a report to council.
After a community engagement process, council voted in June to keep the property intact without affordable housing, but opted to continue with a second stage of public review.
The Nanaimo Foodshare Society has a licence running to the end of this year to use part of the site for education, a community garden and an urban farm. It is allowed it to run a farm stand selling food and produce and to conduct tours. The licence includes the option to extend it for another year.
A house on the property is leased out until March.
The intention is to ultimately demolish the house as necessary maintenance and renovation costs are expected to exceed rent revenue, the staff report said.
The property is one of 10 municipally owned sites where food is grown. Increased food production at the farm would depend on partnerships with community organizations, the staff report said.
One option is to set aside three acres for park use, which would include recreation, farming and preservation of natural wetland, and two acres for affordable housing.
Another would see four acres devoted to park use and one for affordable housing next to Park Avenue. Yet another option also envisions four acres of park and one acre of housing, which would be located next to Boardwalk Avenue.
Another proposal would see four acres for park and one acre for affordable housing near Boardwalk Avenue, but the uses would be configured to use less farm area by changing the location of the recreational space.
The fifth option is for park use only.
In their report, staff said they believe the city’s food security and housing goals could both be accommodated on the site, saying housing could be creatively combined with food production, open space and recreation.
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