Welcome to the B.C. and Alberta Food System Policy Database

This report provides recommendations for the humane and sanitary keeping of backyard hens in Vancouver. These recommendations include amendments to Zoning and Development Bylaw No. 3575 and Animal Control By-law No. 9150, creation of an on-line registry for hen keepers, and funding for facilities to house hens at the Vancouver Animal Control shelter. The Zoning and Development By-law amendments must proceed to Public Hearing prior to Council action. Since the Zoning and Development By-law amendments are integral to the proposed system of regulation, the remainder of the recommendations are contingent upon their approval. 

from http://vancouver.ca/people-programs/backyard-chickens.aspx

Urban honey beekeeping is permitted everywhere in the city, however site-specific requirements need to be considered for residential and commercial areas or if beekeeping is taking place in community gardens. Section 1 outlines general requirements followed by the specific requirements in Section 2.

Description of appropriate sites, operations, supporitng facilities etc for urban agriculture in City Parks.

The purpose of the guidelines is to assist farmers’ market applicants and City staff in evaluating applications for farmers’ markets by:

(a) Assessing suitability and feasibility of farmers’ markets on select zoned lands, streets, and Park sites;
(b) Ensuring that farmers’ markets meet policy and regulations listed below; and
(c) Ensuring that each location is compatible with adjacent uses to support neighbourliness: mitigation of noise, parking, traffic, pedestrian interface, size, privacy, and visual impacts on existing, neighbourhood uses. 

Supplementary Information

Municipal Planner Interview with the City of Surrey Re: Farm Homeplate Restriction

The City of Surrey’s farm home plate restriction requires the clustering of non-agricultural buildings and structures in Agricultural Zones close to the front property line. By clustering non-agricultural uses and regulating the size and siting of the associated footprint, known as the farm residential footprint, the City of Surrey aims to curtail the impact of estate development on agricultural land and the installation of long residential driveways over prime agriculture soils.

Policy Development

Given the urban areas within Surrey, the use of ALR land for residential development is an ongoing challenge within the municipality.  Approximately 7 years ago, the municipality began developing regulations for the size and siting of the farm home plate on ALR lands. It was a contentious process which resulted in the adoption of the farm residential footprint provisions into the zoning bylaw in 2012.  While the final home plate provisions cluster and limit the total footprint of residential uses (eg lawns, pools, residences, accessory buildings), they do not restrict the footprints of houses themselves. 

Public Consultation and Policy Adoption

The agricultural industry, Surrey’s Agricultural Advisory Committee and the general public were engaged during the farm home plate development and review process. Strong opposition toward limiting house size was expressed at open houses. As a result, house size restrictions were not included in the home plate provisions.

Policy Implementation

While non-compliant, pre-existing and pre-loaded sites were granted development variances and building permits, variances for future farm home plate adjustments are only to be supported where the proposal will benefit agriculture. Communicating this priority to the public and the need to implement it, takes time which was evident in the large number of variance applications submitted after the new regulations were adopted.

Policy Outcomes and Recommended Improvements

It was reported that the policy has generally helped reduce the loss of productive ALR land to residential development, but it has been less effective than initially intended. It was expressed that, to have the desired influence on restricting the use of ALR land for estate homes, a policy should ideally limit the footprint of farm residences in addition to restricting the footprint of the home plate.

References

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

A policy to establish transition areas between residential areas and the Agricultural Land Reserve. 

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

A bylaw to regulate beekpeeing on small and large lots.

A Bylaw to regulate the control and keeping of domestic chickens on residential lots greater than 669 square meters [7,200 sq. ft.] but less than 0.4 hectares [1 acre].