City of Surrey Policy for Considering Applications for Exclusion of Land from the Agricultural Land Reserve - City Policy No. O-51

A policy to provide the context for and establish criteria that will be used for the evaluation of applications received by the City of Surrey to exclude land from the Agricultural Land Reserve. 

Supplementary Information

Municipal Planner Interview with the City of Surrey Re: Policy for Considering Application for Exclusion of Land from the ALR

In their efforts to protect farmland resources for agriculture, the City of Surrey established a policy for considering application for exclusion of land from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). Generally, the policy calls for proposals for land exclusions from the ALR to be accompanied by a proposal to add an area of land into the ALR that is at least twice the area of that which is being excluded. The included land must be within Surrey’s city limits.

Policy Development and Adoption

This policy was developed to discourage the exclusion of land from the ALR and reduce land speculation.  It was reported that generally the policy is highly supported both internally and by the public.  A similar policy is included in the City’s OCP, adopted in 2014, as well as in its Agricultural Strategy.

Policy Implementation

Implementing the policy on an ongoing basis requires that City Planners and other staff have up to date knowledge of the policy and can identify it upon receipt of an inquiry for ALR exclusion.  Challenges to this end can arise during times of staff turnover, where knowledge gaps can lead to gaps in enforcement.

Policy Outcomes and Recommendations

It was reported that, generally, the ALR exclusion policy has helped the municipality maintain a stable ALR boundary. Inconsistencies in policy interpretation and implementation have resulted in cases where exclusions have been approved without subsequent inclusions.

In certain circumstances, the policy allows for monetary compensation (for example, providing funding toward infrastructure upgrades to improve drainage and irrigation or improving farm access) to mitigate the impacts of ALR exclusion, rather than replacement of excluded land. It was reported that monetary compensation is often a more favourable alternative for applicants seeking to exclude land from the ALR, which has impacted the policy’s effectiveness at maintaining a stable ALR boundary.

The City of Surrey has not yet been able to determine which lands outside of the current ALR boundary would be most appropriate to include and, conversely, which ALR lands would be most appropriate to exclude. This has been identified as a limitation to the policy as the lack of information requires the City to make decisions based on submitted applications rather than overall benefits to agriculture and the community.

It was noted that, although the policy has helped Surrey maintain a stable ALR boundary, the City has still experienced the loss of agricultural land to non-farm use development within the ALR which does not alter the boundary itself but does remove viable soil from agricultural production.

References

City of Surrey, Planning and Development Division, Department of Community Planning, personal communication, October and November 2016