Title
Agricultural Impact Assessment
Recommended Action
Whereas the Township of Langley endorsed the Agricultural Viability Strategy in 2013;
Whereas the Strategy underlines the importance of the protection of agricultural lands for farming and farm-related uses;
Whereas Council is receiving increased volumes for development proposals to remove and/or alienate lands from the ALR, thereby reducing over-all agricultural capacity and driving up agricultural land prices due to speculation; and
Whereas the Strategy identifies the objective of protecting agricultural land for agricultural purposes in the Township of Langley, and identified short term actions to complement this objective, to include the implementation of an “agricultural impact assessment process” (AIA), to be completed at the expense of the applicant and to be conducted by a qualified agrologist or equivalent, in order to address ways that an application for exclusion, non-farm use or subdivision is a benefit to agriculture;
Therefore be it resolved that Council direct staff to utilize the existing criteria within the Strategy as the framework for the AIA policy and that the resulting draft form a presentation to Council prior to consideration for formal adoption.