Agricultural Land Reserve land controversy heats up in Revelstoke

A resident concerned our limited agricultural land will be turned into developments is petitioning against the final process for two properties being annexed into the city.

The properties at 3304 & 3452 Catherwood Road are about 13 and 40 acres. The former is owned by Peter Bernacki, Melinda Bell and Richard Mickle, the latter by developer David Evans. The application began in February 2015, and while the property owners have no plans to develop the land anytime soon, they have indicated in their application that the land is for future growth with uses complimentary to Revelstoke Mountain Resort.

“As RMR grows, the use of this land in such a strategic location will surely evolve and starting this process of annexation will allow for access to necessary services such as water and sewer through the city,” Bernacki wrote in a letter, as part of this application, dated Feb. 2, 2015.

The location of the proposed properties to be annexed. Photo: contributed

Both properties are zoned agricultural and are part of the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). ALRs are listed with the provincial Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) — an independent administrative tribunal that administers the ALC Act. Their mandate is to encourage farming on agricultural land.

Daren Corneliuson is a CSRD resident who says he lives on 30 acres around Seven Mile, and has for about 45 years. He saw a City of Revelstoke public notice in the Revelstoke Review, which detailed the proposed annexation, and is opposed.

“It’s a very important piece of agricultural land,” Corneliuson said. “To develop in there, would take tons of tons of extra earth to fill it in. It’s meant to be a farmland. There is enough land in Revelstoke to develop.”

Corneliuson said it is important to keep what little agricultural land Revelstoke has.

“That land reserved for our children and our children’s children,” he said. “It isn’t for us to exploit right now. If we need food production land in the future, it’s the only land.”

The Revelstoke Local Food Initiative was created to encourage and create food security in Revelstoke. Photo Wikimedia

While David Evans previously successfully annexed 3669 Catherwood Road into the City of Revelstoke and had its uses changed from agricultural to commercial, to allow for his treehouse hotel development, that land was not designated ALR.

Corneliuson is afraid that if these two properties are approved to also be annexed into the city, more will follow suit, reducing future agricultural resources.

“It creates a domino effect,” he said. “Does this set precedence? How do you let one out and not everybody else? We’re all in the ALR together.”

In a letter dated July 31, 2015, the CSRD did not support the incremental approach of annexation. It also mentioned that the ALC had indicated that it would only consider a review of these lands for exclusion if specific information is provided about Revelstoke city’s capacity of non ALR land to accommodate growth and if the land is proposed for incorporation into the City of Revelstoke.

In at CSRD board meeting on February 18, 2016, while the board made it clear they still did not support incremental approach, they passed a resolution in support of the extensions as the application was with the province.

City of Revelstoke corporate officer Dawn Low says despite the support the city has given to allow these properties in, there is no plans to remove it from the agricultural pool.

“The city has no intention of doing any development in that area, it’s not a mandatory development area,” she said. “We are neutral to the whole process.”

Land in Revelstoke that is part of the Agricultural Land Reserve. Photo: ALC

Low said land for production of agriculture and farming is limited in Revelstoke. Revelstoke’s Food Security Strategy (2014) has identified 43.7 hectares within city limits that could be used for food production, although they don’t necessarily have the correct zoning for it.

“We don’t have a lot of that (agricultural land) in our city,” Low said. “So we wouldn’t be interested in taking it out of the ALR.”

The ALR comprises of 4.7 million hectares, or five per cent, of B.C.’s total land base and is the area with the greatest agricultural capacity.

The ALC has indicated no opposition to this annexation, but to remove the ALR designation, the property owners will have to make an application. It’s a process and the ALC considers their mandate when making decisions. As part of the process, the City of Revelstoke would have an opportunity to comment.

The catch for Corneliuson and other CSRD residents like himself, is that he has no vote. It’s the City of Revelstoke residents who decide whether we want to accept parcels of land into our boundaries.

To find out more, Low said she was available at City Hall to all to discuss, and the documents can be found there too.

Corneliuson has taken the elector response form petition, due Dec. 16, and placed it around town to collect signatures. The petition is part of the ‘Alternative Approval Process,’ which sidesteps the need for a city-wide referendum unless over 500 electors write to council in opposition of the extension. If so, that would trigger a referendum.

*Updated Sunday Dec. 4. A previous edition stated a letter from the CSRD Board supported the annexations on February 18, 2016, whereas it was a board meeting resolution.