•         This Task Force request was supported by Niagara Regional Council and numerous farm groups . The Task force members included representatives of all farm sectors, regional councillors, regional planners and PALS.

Rationale for the Request        

PALS wholeheartedly supports the Green Belt protections now in place, but our research over a very long time, and that of the 1992-95 government Inter-Ministerial Task Force, indicates that “permanent” protection of prime farm lands under significant urban pressure is best achieved through protective legislation and zoning, combined with restrictive covenants placed on the land “in perpetuity.”

We would very much like the Province to set up an Inter-Ministerial Task Force, so that these findings could be verified, and if so, a program that is supported by farmers as being of value could be developed to ensure that in the public interest the Green Belt fruit lands of Niagara are protected “permanently.”

•         It is of interest that valued Oak Ridges Moraine lands and the Pickering farmlands are being well protected by restrictive covenants and legislative restrictions.

We also note that Oregon, which as late as 2005 was considered a prime example of farmland preservation through strong government land use policies, lost these

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protections in a 2005 referendum, and in British Columbia not only has much prime farmland been removed from its land reserve, being replaced by poorer lands, but there are now several district sub-committees advising the Commission. According to CBC interviews of pro development people these sub committees are

“ closer to the reality of whether the land is good or not.”

In the case of Oregon, at a 2005 Guelph University Land Trust conference, Tom Daniels Director of the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Agricultural Preserve Board , and author of ‘Holding our Ground’, stated that Oregon would have benefitted from the use of restrictive covenants on the most threatened lands on the urban fringe.

PALS has also had the unfortunate experience of helping initiate and then participating in the development of an excellent fruit land preservation program i.e. the Tender Fruit Land Program, only to have a change of government wipe out more than 8 years of work. Such a change of government, even several years from now, could mean a much lesser commitment to farmland preservation and leave the Niagara fruit lands, a recognized provincial and national resource, at risk of renewed urban pressures.

Although the Green Belt has only been in place for a year and a half, pressures are building up, as some farmers are not at all supportive of the Greenbelt restrictions and municipalities in the midst of the Greenbelt struggle with the concept of restricted growth. There are also small farm holdings being sold for rural estate lots, which appears to be the way some farmers are gaining equity in their farm operations.

Background Materials

1.        Questions and Answers

2.        About PALS

3.        Niagara Agricultural Action Plan, page 17, Section 7 Revisiting the Agricultural Easement Program July 17, 2007

4.        Niagara Tender Fruit Lands Program 1995, Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs

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Background:

1. Questions /Answers 

Q 1. What good would it do to set up such a task force?

A 1. It is an opportunity to support a very serious farm request, one that doesn’t come often or easily. It will also show that the province is serious about protecting an extremely limited, irreplaceable, resource for the very long term future, and not risk the chance of some future, less committed, government easing Greenbelt restrictions in Niagara.

PALS experience has shown that restrictive covenants, legislation and zoning have been most useful in protecting prime farm land and natural areas for the very long term. However, further research and investigation of this tool to enhance Greenbelt protection, by an Inter-Ministerial Task force, bolstered by Regional planners, farmers, PALS and the Ontario Farmland Trust, would determine how useful it would be in to-day’s context, and how it could be implemented.

Q 2. Won’t this set a precedent ?  

 A. The government has used restrictive covenants along with legislation and zoning to protect other precious resources which are threatened by urban pressures , such as the Oak Ridges Moraine and Pickering farmland reserve. The unique Niagara fruitlands, which are of regional, provincial and national significance deserve equal protection

*There are only approximately 15,000 acres of tender fruit land and 15,000 acres of grape land compared with the several million acres of prime farm land in Ontario.

Q 3. Isn’t this compensation to the farmers via the “back door”?

A. No, this is an investment in farming, as land base retention is crucial to the long term economic viability of fruit farmers, and in the Niagara . small fruit farm sizes, mean land can be sold as rural residential lots. This in turn ups the farm prices beyond what another farmer can pay.

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*In NOTL average lots are 12 acres, and as noted in Planscape’s Niagara

  Agricultural Action Plan Report (July 2006)

“ There is also the reality that this large protected area in close proximity to the GTA is desirable as a location for rural residences . The nature of agriculture in Niagara is such that the farm parcels are small enough to be viable as large estate lots. Competition for land between agriculture and estate residential uses could drive prices up making it difficult for farmers to afford to acquire or rent land, introduce conflicting uses, take land out of production, and result in a fragmented agricultural area.”

Q 4. Won’t this plan only apply to a few farmers?

A. While the 1995 Tender Fruit Lands Program limited the number of restrictive covenants to 7 in the first round of selections, these were farms on urban boundaries and the restrictions on these titles alone would have permanently sealed at least two urban boundaries from further development. Had the program gone forward, all of the 65% of the fruit farmers in Niagara who signed up, would have had restrictive covenants placed on the land. Although some would have waited for the full ten years of the program, this would have been preferable to them waiting for a rural estate lot sale.

2. About PALS:

PALS is the longest standing land preservation group in Canada, and its members have worked for over 30 years to protect Niagara’s unique fruit lands. . More than any other group or individual, PALS has raised public and political awareness regarding the need for permanent protection of the approximately 15,000 acres of tender fruit lands and 15,000 acres of grape lands left untouched by urban sprawl.

To do this we have developed educational materials, given lectures to schools, universities, public groups and to politicians. We have also on occasion taken our case for land protection to the Ontario Municipal Board and were commended by the OMB at the 1979-81 urban boundary hearings for “defending the land in the absence of anyone else”. In this we were supported by farmers from the Niagara North and South Federations of Agriculture.

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In the early 1990s PALS was recognized by the Provincial government for its work to promote agriculture in Niagara and to protect fruit land; in 1985, our Treasurer, Gracia Janes was awarded the Ontario Medal for Citizenship for her farmland preservation endeavors; in 1987/88 she was appointed to the Round Table on Environment and the Economy , Sub Committee on Agriculture; and in 1992 to 1995, she and another PALS member, Mrs. Joan H. Ashcroft were appointed to the provincial Tender Fruit Land Program committee; and for the last four years, Mrs. Janes has been a member of the Regional Niagara Agricultural Task Force.

In seeking to protect the rare and endangered fruit lands, PALS has researched both the loss of land, and methods used world-wide to more permanently preserve prime farmlands. PALS Land Trust conference in 1990 ‘ Land at Risk’ drew over one hundred land preservationists together to review our position on the use of conservation easements , and to hear Bill Powell, head of the Maryland Farmland Trust speak about their value in the USA, where many thousands of acres of prime land had been protected to that point in time. . Gracia Janes then co-chaired the Countryside Coalition with Stewart Hilts of Guelph, and then she and researcher Dr. John Bacher continued more in-depth research regarding the use of restrictive covenants and used this information to persuade the farmers of their value. Subsequently, a Federal/Provincial/Regional task force was struck in 1990 and then later a 1992-95 Provincial/Regional/Farm/PALS task force- both recommended the use of restrictive covenants to protect Niagara tender fruit lands.

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