The loosened rules on agritourism events will be good news for some farmers, but farm owners should ensure those events don’t hinder the well-being of neighbours and the quality of life of neighbourhoods.
Under the old rules, the Agricultural Land Commission Act did not allow non-farm uses of land inside the Agricultural Land Reserve, unless permission was obtained from the commission to hold such events.
Last year, the commission began issuing stop-work orders to farmers who had not obtained permission for commercial activities. The orders affected farms on Vancouver Island, in the Fraser Valley and in the Okanagan. That threw wedding plans into turmoil, forcing some couples to search for new venues. It also raised concerns among farmers who depend on such activities to top off their farm income.
Last September, the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture released a white paper, Regulating Agri-tourism and Farm Retail Sales in the Agricultural Land Reserve, in which it proposed tougher restrictions on non-farm activities on farmland.
The ALC has had a change of heart. The commission announced this week that, effective immediately, B.C. farmers will no longer need permits to host events such as weddings and concerts on their farms, if those events meet several conditions.
“These regulations offer a needed balance while allowing B.C. farmers to supplement their incomes through secondary activities that support farming and agriculture on their land,” Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick said.
“We’ve found the right balance that blends common sense with the preservation of farmland,” Frank Leonard, chairman of the commission, noted on his Facebook page.
The conditions include a 150-person limit on the number of guests and no more than 10 events a year. Parking must be on the farm but cannot be permanent or interfere with the farm’s agricultural productivity. The farm must be classified as having farm status under the Assessment Act and no new, permanent structures can be built.
For events that go outside those restrictions — such as a wedding with 200 guests — a permit from the commission is needed.
Life is hard for many B.C. farmers, especially those who operate smaller family farms. Weather, markets and other factors beyond the farmers’ control affect income. It’s difficult to compete with foreign-grown produce. For some farmers, revenue comes only at harvest time, but expenses continue throughout the year.
Using farmland for such things as weddings, corn mazes, petting zoos and bed-and-breakfast accommodations can help ease farms through the down times. Agritourism can help farms stay viable that might not otherwise be able to survive.
But there’s considerable potential for abuse. People moving into an agricultural area don’t have grounds for complaint about such things as the smell of manure, dust raised by plowing or the noise of harvest. Those are farming facts of life, and the farms were there first.
It’s a different thing, though, if a commercial activity springs up in an otherwise agricultural area, or events come with loud bands, increased traffic and other disruptions.
Regardless of commission rules, on-farm events should still conform to local bylaws concerning such factors as noise, traffic, litter, parking and hours of operation.
And regulations should still prohibit large-scale commercial operations from locating on lower-taxed agricultural land where they have an unfair advantage over competitors that operate in commercial zones.
A farm can be a pleasant setting for a wedding or a concert, but those events should not be allowed to make life unpleasant for the neighbours.
