An application to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) under Section 21(2) of the Agricultural Land Commission Act (the Act) has been lodged with the Regional District in order to allow for subdivision within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR).

Specifically, the applicant is proposing to subdivide one parcel into two parcels, with one proposed to be approximately 1.59 ha in size and the other parcel to be approximately 3.83 ha in size. The larger proposed parcel is located along Park Rill Creek and will be sold to a conservation organization.

The applicant has stated that the purpose of the application is to subdivide off the farmable area of the property. The applicant further states the remainder of the property is mostly marsh land and un-farmable but is high in environmental and wildlife habitat. The owner wishes to ensure that the marsh lands will be protected into the future.

Site Context:
The subject property is approximately 5.4 ha in size and is located on the east side of Highway 97 approximately 535 m north of the Town of Oliver’s boundary and on the west side of the Park Rill Creek channel, and is within the Agricultural Land Reserve. There is a single detached dwelling, a detached garage and several accessory farm structures located on the property.

There are Watercourse Development Permit areas identified on the property for both the Park Rill Creek and the marshy area and ponds located on the eastern portion of the property. There is also an RDOS Board Environmentally Sensitive Development Permit area identified on the eastern and southeastern portion of the property. The surrounding pattern of development is primarily characterized by agricultural operations to the north, south and west, zoned as AG1. To the east, there is a portion of Crown land that buffers the Park Rill Creek channel, and further to the east is a small residential subdivision zoned as RS2.

Background:
Under the Electoral Area ‘C’ Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 2452, 2008 the subject property is designated as Agricultural and under the Electoral Area ‘C’ Zoning Bylaw no. 2453, 2008, the property is zoned Agricultural One (AG1). The minimum parcel size required for an AG1 zone is 4 ha; therefore, a zoning bylaw amendment would be required if the ALR subdivision approval were granted.

The applicant has submitted confirmation from the Okanagan Region Wildlife Heritage Fund Society and Ducks Unlimited who are both interested in partnering to obtain the portion of property along Park Rill Creek.

The applicant submitted a subdivision application to Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) in 2013. MOTI responded with a Preliminary Layout Not Approved for a variety of reasons including that approval from the Agricultural Land Commission was required prior to subdivision occurring within the ALR.

Analysis:

The main consideration in this proposed request to subdivide within the ALR is whether or not to support fragmenting an agricultural property to create two sub-minimal parcels, one of which is a marshy area and is to be sold or donated to a conservation society.
The ALR Use, Subdivision & Procedures Regulation under Section 3.1(f), permits biodiversity conservation, passive recreation, heritage, wildlife and scenery viewing purposes, as long as the area occupied by an associated buildings and structures does not exceed 100 m2 for each parcel.
It is generally not considered good planning practice to encourage the fragmentation of viable agricultural land, and the Electoral Area ‘C’ Official Community Plan (OCP) generally seeks to discourage this type of subdivision through the objective to “preserve agricultural land with continuing value for agriculture for current and future production, and to protect this land from uses which are inconsistent with agricultural use or are incompatible with existing agricultural uses”.

The OCP also encourages the protection, preservation, enhancement and management of environmentally sensitive areas through the following methods:
 by encouraging conservation organizations to purchase the areas;
 by encouraging the donation of the areas to the Regional District, The Nature Trust,