Agricultural Development Advisory Committee

That the agenda be adopted as circulated.

That the minutes of the Agricultural Development Advisory Committee meeting held on April 13, 2023, be adopted as circulated.

That ADAC recommends submitting comment to the EBR posting requesting that the Province maintain protections for Prime Agricultural Lands as it was in the 2020 Provincial Policy Statement to prevent continued and expanded erosion of the agricultural land base across Ontario. The specific language that appears to be missing in the proposed Statement is that “municipalities should protect Prime Agricultural Lands”. It only refers to protecting Specialty Crop Areas. It is not enough to designate Prime Agricultural Lands. The Committee wishes to reinforce that Prime Agricultural Lands must also be protected.

That the ADAC committee requests a discussion with the RZBL project team, representatives of ADAC and a few agricultural organization representatives, to review the agricultural content of Draft 2 of the RZBL, with a focus on the Agriculture Related Uses, to be as supportive as possible to agribusiness growth and development and to align as closely as possible with the as-of-right intent within the Provincial Policies, to the limits permitted within the CKLOP policies.

That additional comments from the ADAC be submitted to the RZBL regarding removal of the Future Development Zone, with a request to meet to discuss these concerns with the Project team.

That the ADAC Committee recommends that farm landowners be permitted to maintain the municipal roadside area adjacent to their property similar to activities permitted by residential and other urban land owners where it doesn’t impede visibility, where there is no risk to damaging infrastructure and services in order to control weed and brush growth that negatively affects cropping, and can cause visibility issues, and also detracts from beautification of the area.