NF2 No Farms No Food

BEWARE NEW MUNICIPAL PLANNING STRATEGY

AMONG THE MISSING REFERENCE TO PROVINCE’S PROTECTION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IS MISSING The Province has decided that agricultural land requires special protection. It has done this by adopting a Statement of Provincial Interest Regarding Agricultural Land. ... The Statements of Provincial Interest are meant to serve as guiding principles for municipalities when they are making land use decisions. Since the SPI regarding agricultural land provides guiding principles, one would have thought the MPS would contain some discussion of the Goal, Basis, Application and Provisions in the SPI on farmland. But you would have thought wrong. Inexplicably, there is not a single reference in the MPS to principles of the SPI concerning farmland.

VITAL STATISTICS You need to know where you are before you can make a good plan to get to where you want to go. Besides pointing out that the population is aging, the proposed MPS in its Context sections contains no population statistics. ... Here are some figures that should have been included in the MPS. Stats Canada says that the population in all of Nova Scotia increased between 2011 and 2016 by 1871. From 2011 to 2016, the Municipality of Kings population decreased by 165. For a longer perspective, in the last 20 years, from 1996 to 2016, the population decreased by 82. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation projects that the population of Nova Scotia will decrease between 2016 and 2036. The Annapolis Valley Regional School Board projects that student enrollment between 2015 and 2025 will decrease from 12,922 to 11,961. According Stats Can, the number of private dwelling units in Kings County in 2011 was 28,178. That number in 2016 was 29,187 an increase of just 1009 in five years. According to CMHC, from 2014 to October 2016, there were 281 single and 171 multiple housing starts in Kings County. Surprisingly, especially in light of MPS’s references to regional planning, the planning staff shows no interest in the number of potential number of residential building lots in the towns of Berwick, Wolfville and Kentville. In view of the above figures, how can the MPS explain and justify not only the increase in the number of Growth Centres in the proposed MPS, but include a policy to expand the areas of Growth Centres. It makes no sense.

FARMLAND IN GROWTH CENTRES HAS NO PROTECTION The proposed MPS does not provide any protection for agricultural land located within growth centres. The only justification for this lack of protection is based upon the fact there is already existing infrastructure available or nearby in the Growth Centres.... The County’s planning staff has been asked to provide figures on the total amount of agricultural land located in Growth Centres but it has failed to do so. A careful reading of the Province’s Statements of Provincial Interest Regarding Agricultural Land and Infrastructure makes clear that retaining/maintaining agricultural land should be given priority over all other uses when possible. The Introduction to the Statements begins with: Nova Scotia’s land and water resources are fundamental to our physical, social and economic well-being. But they are finite resources and using them in one way can mean the exclusion of other uses forever. Therefore, it is important that decisions about Nova Scotia’s land and water be made carefully. Ill-advised land use can have serious consequences for the physical, economic and social well-being of all Nova Scotians. One solution would be that agricultural land located within Growth Centres be given protection by including it an overlay district for agricultural land or by some other means.

NO LIMIT TO NON-FARM USE The proposed Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use Bylaws will allow non-farm dwellings on A1 farmland without any justification. Non-farm dwellings will be permitted on farmland under three conditions:... (1) on a newly created lot with a minimum frontage of 1,000 feet and a lot area no greater than 5 acres. (2) on pre-existing lot with a minimum frontage of 1,000 feet; and (3) on an infill lot between an existing dwellings or an existing dwelling on a public road. The MPS Vision states that the County should identify and continue to protect agricultural land and that settlement should be concentrated in Growth Centres. The MPS contains no information about the number of non-farm dwellings that could be constructed on farmland based upon the proposed LUB provisions. Planning documents need to include information about the possible outcomes of the plan. Otherwise it’s not a plan.

PLAN TO ARRIVE Good land use planning is like planning a trip. You first have to know where you are; then you decide where you want to go; and finally you have to figure out the best way to get to your destination.... The proposed Kings County Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) sets the goal of retaining and growing the agricultural sector. However, the draft MPS actually opens new loopholes to turn farmland into housing lots & other non-agricultural uses. Exemptions called ‘in-fill lots’ and ‘1,000 foot frontage’ create big detours from farmland protection. We think a secure future for local agriculture is the right destination. Before government slips off that path, will you ask: How much agricultural land could be lost under new exemptions from farmland protection?

OFF BALANCE In writing the policies of the draft MPS planning staff say they have been guided by a principle of balance between those who want to preserve farmland and those who want to develop it. This idea of balance is being misused. ... In planning our community we must decide which vision and which priorities should be given the greatest weight. The self-interest of individuals in the present does not need to be balanced against the best interests of our future citizens. There will always be folks who WANT to build houses in our beautiful countryside and who will not consider the greater good that agricultural land provides. There will always be landowners who WANT to maximize the value of their land. If we try to balance those WANTS with our community's NEED for food, economic productivity, and opportunity we will forever be chipping away at this natural resource that sustains us.