By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
An application to remove a property at the corner of Highway 97 and Wren Place in Osoyoos from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) has been approved by Town Council.
Council’s acceptance of the exclusion application to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) to release the property from the ALR would, if approved, enable the subsequent rezoning and subdivision of the property.
The 0.086 hectare (0.212 acre) property – located within the Meadowlark Plan Area – has not recently been used for agricultural purposes. It is also located within an eight-lot subdivision on Wren Place that was created in 1977 with seven of the lots having been developed with single family homes.
Town of Osoyoos Planning Technician Leah Curtis said that if the ALR exclusion is approved “the property owner intends to move forward with a rezoning proposal to enable the subdivision of his property into two small residential lots.” The proposed amendment and subsequent subdivision will enable one new residential lot to be created.
According to the town’s planning department there is a total of 326 hectares ALR land in Osoyoos comprising 14 per cent of the town’s total land area.
“Most of Osoyoos’ ALR lands are in active agricultural production to some degree or another, with a few exceptions such as the Osoyoos Golf and Country Club,” Curtis noted.
The Town’s Growth Management approach with the Official Community Plan (OCP) “aims to protect the integrity of our agricultural land base, as new development is only encouraged in areas with access to existing servicing infrastructure.”
The Meadowlark Area Plan was identified within the town’s previous OCP as a future growth area with properties within that area transitioning from agricultural to other uses.
Lands within the Meadowlark Plan Area may be released from the ALR on an as-needed-basis, subject to their confirmation that proposed developments are consistent with the Area Plan policies. It has been the town’s objective to have all of the Meadowlark area completely released from the ALR over time, Curtis said in her presentation to council.
The town is responsible for making applications on behalf of applicants looking to have their property excluded from the ALR. Exclusion applications may be considered by council for ALC consideration for parcels that are agriculturally inactive and are connected to existing servicing infrastructure.
Council voted to accept the ALR Exclusion Application with Councilor Myers Bennett the lone dissenter. Bennett did not state the nature of his opposition to the application.
