The Rural Voice, 1979-11, Page 23RuraiNews in Brief
Subdivision approved
despite farmer's protest
It was no surprise to those attending the
hearing of the Ontario Municipal Board in
the tiny hamlet of Belgrave in Huron
County on October 12, that the appeals
against the development of a new
subdivision in the hamlet were turned
down.
The battle actually began about five
years ago, according to the reeve of East
Wawanosh township, Simon Hallahan,
who has some 60 years experience with
farm organizations and municipal councils.,
when the council approved a by-law
designating some 20 acres of adjacent land
for development. But it all came to a head
this year when Lorne Humphries, a
developer, actually drew up plans for a
subdivision.
A classical battle developed between the
forces who believe that all agricultural land
that can grow crops should be preserved
for that purpose, and those who maintain
that there is a surplus of land and that this
should be developed for other uses.
The normal course of an urban develop-
ment was followed, by the township
drafting a by-law, receiving approval by
the ministries of housing and environment,
and circulating the by-law to anyone living
within 400 feet of the area's boundaries.
At the boundary is the farm of John and
Noreen Gnay and they hold that "...it is
the duty of Canadian s to uphold the
principle of the preservation of agricultural
land. We must look after it to the best of
our abilities in order to pass it on to the
next generation."
Mr. Gnay, who has a B.Sc. in agronomy
grows cash crops on his farm until he will
be in a position to give up his job as teacher
at Madill Secondary school in Wingham,
when he intends to go into farming full
time.
It is not surprising that the Gnays
opposed the proposal, not only for the
stated reasons, but also, as was brought
out at the latest hearing, to head off the
threat of possible curtailment of future
plans for farming.
The Gnays won a temporary victory on
July 9 when their objection was upheld on
the grounds that the OMB " ...does not
share the opinion to the effect that the
proposal would be a harmonious and
integrated expansion of the village."
However the victory was incomplete, for
in the decision as handed down by the
vice-chairman of the OMB, D.S. Colbourne;
he noted that " ... there is some logic in a
balance of development of Belgrave."
The reason for the July rejection was
that Mr. Colbourne didn't think that 15,000
sq. ft. lots for commercial enterprises, as
proposed in the by-law, were appropriate,
and he also doubted that the planned
multiple dwellings would fit in well with
Belgrave.
The new by-law left all single dwelling
proposals in place and deleted the multiple
dwelling plan altogether, putting it in a
holding area for later zoning, and limited
all commercial lots to 5,000 sq. ft.
This left John and Noreen Gnay with the
same situation as before, and they objected
to this by-law as well.
Now the battle was joined once more,
with Reeve Hallahan and his council, with
the help of their lawyer, Robert Campbell,
defending the plan for Lorne Humphries,
and the Gnays, assisted by lawyer Murray
Elston, trying to defeat the plan.
When Mr. Campbell succeeded in
having the single residence part excluded
from the discussions at the hearing,
because Mr. Colbourne had already
approved it in his earlier decision, for all
intents and purposes, Reeve Hallahan and
his council and developer Humphries had
won the battle.
When Ronald White, executive member
of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture
outlined the philosophy of the OFA
expressing the continuous fear of har ass-
ment of farmers -by encroaching residences
into the country, the OMB's Mr. Colbourne
dismissed this as no real threat. After Gary
Davidson, the Huron county planner,
testified that the agricultural code of
practice was incorporated in the county
by-law, Mr. Colbourne decided that this
was sufficient protection for the farmers
adjacent to urban areas. He remarked that
urban residents need also protection
against the practices of farmers, regardless
who moved where first.
Robert Campbell, the township lawyer,
said that Mr. and Mrs. Gnay could fight
every severance in the Land Division Court
if they so wished but under questioning
Mr. Davidson stated that no one is notified
when a hearing about a severance is held.
He also said that the Huron county
official plan strongly recommends further
development of hamlets and villages.
Commercial enterprises should, however,
be compatible with the village, and with
other enterprises already within the
village.
In his judgement, Mr. Colbourne
decided that adjacent farms are• already
limited by the development of Belgrave in
the adjacent township of Morris; the new
sub -division wouldn't make any difference.
Fertilizer bags
no longer under weight
Fertilizer companies seem to have
cleaned up their act in the past few
months.
A recent survey by the federal Consumer
and Corporate Affairs Department found
that about 90 per cent of the fertilizer
bags tested contained at least the quantity
indicated on the bag. Tests last spring had
tound about one-third of the fertilizer bags
were underweight.
. To date the Ontario department's
director hasn't checked whether the same
companies and product lines found
deficient in the spring are still breaking the
law with underweight bags. He says no
further checks on fertilizer will be carried
out until spring.
No charges were laid as a result of the
department's finding. The director, Bill
Empke, said the department would
consider prosecutions in the spring only if
"we're down to a one -or two firm
problem" after the next survey. "Then it
would be a different thing and we'd have to
look at prosecutions", he said.
In the fall inspection of 214 bags of
fertilizer from five plants, 23 bags were
found deficient, but only 15 were deficient
enough to justify prosecution under the
Weights and Measures Act.
It's an offense under the act to sell
anything by weight short of the quantity
purchased. The maximum penalty is a $100
fine and three months in jail.
Mr. Empke said, "obviously the
(fertilizer) industry has taken the problem
seriously."
Perth pledges $8,000
to tornado relief
The Perth Federation of Agriculture is
pleased with response to its tornado
campaign. Perth farmers have pledged
$8,000 as well as 15,000 bales of hay. Ken
Green of R.R. 1, St. Pauls would like to
announce that the deadline for contrib-
utions has been extended to Nov. 1.
THE RURAL VOICE/NOVEMBER 1979 PG. 21