Township endorses ALR subdivision
By Al Irwin Times Reporter Nov 08 2006
Subdivision of a five-hectare (12.49-acre) ALR property at 6780 264 St., into two parcels, has been endorsed by Langley Township council.
The property is within the area designated Small Farm/Country Estate in the Township's Rural Plan, where the Agricultural Land Commission has indicated it does not support the minimum lot size for subdivision, 1.7 hectares (4.2 acres), a planning department report indicates.
However, the report says, as the proposed lot size complies with the Township's land use policies it may be endorsed by council.
The owner, Carol Locken, has applied to subdivide the property into one seven-acre lot and a 5.49-acre lot. The report recommended council endorse the application.
The property is relatively flat and is an active purebred cow/calf operation. There is a single-family dwelling and a barn on the proposed northern parcel, and a mobile home and a shop ar located on the proposed southern lot. The planning report says that uses on all four sides of the subject property are rural residential, with property sizes ranging from 8.9 acres to 12.5 acres.
Council endorsed the application at its Oct. 30 meeting. The application now goes to the provincial Agricultural Land Commission, which must approve the application before council can proceed with a subdivision.
The rural plan was adopted by the Township council in 1993, with the objective of protecting the agricultural land base and enhancing agricultural viability. The majority of the Rural Plan area and ALR within the Township was placed in an Agriculture/Countryside, which had formerly been designated 1.7- hectare-minimum (4.2-acre) lot size. After adoption of the plan, the zoning bylaw was amended for these lands to an eight-hectare (19.76 acres) minimum lot size to thwart parcelization.
However land within the rural plan, primarily land close to urban areas and already significantly "parcelized," was designated Country Estates/Small Farm, and retained the 1.7-hectare minimum lot size. This was intended to provide for smaller-scale agricultural uses with some limitations on intensive use and rural-residential uses.
The land commission does not agree with some of these Country Estate/Small Farm designations.
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