Farming a south-Barrie field got uprooted by city councillors last night.
SmartCentres REIT, on behalf of Barrie-Bryne Developments, wants a temporary-use bylaw for farming for three years at 15 Harvie Rd., but a majority of city councillors said no, in part because agricultural land is taxed at a lower rate.
These 82 acres have had such a bylaw since 2014.
“We’ve provided a significant tax exemption to a fairly large corporation (SmartCentres) for almost a decade now, and they’re looking to extend it,” said Coun. Gary Harvey, noting a similar bylaw request was rejected by council several months ago.
“I wish we had the ability to permit the farming without the tax exemption, but unfortunately we don’t," he added.
Active agricultural use on this land could qualify for the farmland tax rate, if the farmland tax class is approved on the property by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).
Property taxes on the land are $8,250 this year, when it’s zoned agricultural.
If the bylaw extension isn’t granted, the land would be reassessed by MPAC, zoned for light industrial, general commercial and environmental protection.
Staff have estimated taxes ranging anywhere from $50,000 to $175,000-plus with this zoning.
Harvey, who represents this part of Barrie, said the land was rezoned last June and is divided by Bryne Drive. Its east side is to have commercial use, the west side residential with 155 semi-detached homes, townhouses and two apartment blocks.
Michelle Banfield, the city’s executive director of development services, said a draft plan of subdivision there is also approved, but not a site plan.
“The intention always was for the agricultural use to be just interim,” she said.
“We’re in a housing crisis, in an inflation crisis. I have a hard time incentivizing inaction,” said Coun. Sergio Morales. “This land is ripe for housing…and ready to go.”
“I don’t see why we should be rewarding developers for not proceeding,” said Coun. Craig Nixon.
Coun. Bryn Hamilton had some advice for SmartCentres.
“Give us a call,” she said. “If you really want to continue farming this, make a deal, figure out how you can pay the shortfall that’s on the backs of the city taxpayers.”
Coun. Ann-Marie Kungl and Coun. Clare Riepma spoke in favour of granting the temporary-use bylaw.
“It’s good use of land, while it’s there,” Kungl said. “In an economic climate where food security is a big deal … it’s being used for farming and food production, and it impacts the livelihood of the farmer.”
“It has been used for agriculture for years and to continue that I think is a good use of the land until it’s developed,” Riepma said. “We ought to encourage agriculture as an interim use here.
"Let’s move ahead for three years and then see where we are at that point," he added.
Mayor Alex Nuttall made an argument against the bylaw on several levels.
“I understand somebody farms this property. But I’m not willing to subsidize it for $175,000 a year,” he said. “I love farmers and they feed cities and … they work harder than all of us put together, but I cannot ask the people of Barrie to give 175 grand for this purpose.
“What I can do is I can say to SmartCentres, bring forward the development now that you’re ready,” Nuttall added. “We have the roads there, we have the bridge there, we have the services there and let’s start building that part of the city the way that we’ve envisioned it to happen based on the investments we have made.”
The mayor noted the nearby Harvie Road bridge carried a $76-million price tag and the Bryne Drive extension is $20 million, although SmartCentres gave the city the land for the roadway.
City council will consider final approval to reject the temporary-use bylaw at its April 17 meeting.
This land is located on the west side of Highway 400, south of Harvie Road and east of Thrushwood Drive. The property is divided by the Bryne Drive South extension, which is currently under construction.
Agricultural use would cease on all or part of this land at any time before the expiry of a temporary-use bylaw, if development proceeds on all or any portion of the property.
Agricultural activities would be limited to field crops, in an open field, a 30-metre naturalized buffer must be provided around Lover’s Creek and Whiskey Creek, access to the site for farming would be restricted to the entrance at Harvie Road, best management practices must be applied for the use of fertilizer and pesticides. Activities related to the Bryne Drive extension would take precedence over the permission for agriculture use on that portion of the land identified for the construction of the roadway.
The request to extend the timeline for the temporary-use bylaw at 15 Harvie was not ratified by council before it expired Oct. 5, 2023, so its owner submitted a new one.
Agricultural use of the property was initiated in 2014 as being interim, pending the future development of the land, to prevent the property from being fallow and to reduce trespassing.
