Larry Pynn
Sun
Some small farms are home to 10,000-square-foot ‘country estates’ that keep commercial trucks on their parking lots, according to Metro’s Harold Steves. Photograph by: Ward Perrin, Vancouver Sun
The Metro Vancouver board voted Friday to ask the provincial government to pass legislation giving the Agricultural Land Commission the power to regulate the size of “monster” homes on farmland.
Harold Steves, Metro’s agriculture committee chairman, explained that a proliferation of “country estates,” especially on small farm properties in the region, is reducing the agricultural capability of the land.
Steves, a farmer and veteran Richmond councillor, said some new farm homes can be 10,000 square feet and up, include space for multiple generations of family members, and vast parking lots used for commercial trucks.
He said the regulation of such homes is best handled by the land commission rather than leaving each municipality to wrestle with the problem independently. The Metro board did not specify the maximum house size.
“We need one plan for the entire region,” Steves stressed.
In other agricultural matters, the board recommended that the income threshold required to achieve farm status be established “at levels consistent with a viable and sustainable agricultural operation” and that the calculation of annual farm income should include sales from value-added processing and agri-tourism operations rather than simply the wholesale value of farm goods.
Steves noted some farmers may charge admission for special attractions, or grind their beef into grilled hamburgers for sale to the public — revenue not currently considered farm income.
Currently in B.C., the threshold for a farm-property tax assessment varies based on size, but is $2,500 for farms of almost one hectare to four hectares — the sort of properties being targeted for country estates.
A report by the Farm Assessment Review Panel in July recommended B.C. establish a single income threshold at a minimum of $3,500 annual gross farm income.
B.C. Agriculture Minister Steve Thompson could not be reached Friday.
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