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 Posté le: Lun Sep 30, 2013 3:03 pm Sujet du message: Agricultural Land Commission decisions increase de |
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{Agricultural Land Commission decisions increase development flexibility; more farmland planted}
Three- and four-bedroom Boucherie Beach cottages on Okanagan Lake range in size up to 2,030 square feetBy Glen KorstromTue Jul 16, 2013 12:01am PSTRecent Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) decisions have allowed agricultural land reserve (ALR) land to be developed if most of the property was used commercially prior to the ALR’s creation in 1972.But there are strings attached: part of the site must be used for agriculture – even if it hasn’t been cultivated in decades.Two examples of this flexibility are near Okanagan Lake,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler down jackets[/url], where developer Trasolini Chetner is building waterfront housing.“The ALC [allowed us to build a resort] but there is a history of a resort on our property,” Trasolini Chetner principal Rob Chetner told Business in Vancouver.Chetner’s latest project is Boucherie Beach,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]discount moncler jackets[/url], where he is pre-selling 35 luxury cottages at prices that start at $499,000 for three- and four-bedroom cottages that range up to 2,030 square feet.Seven of the Boucherie Beach’s 12 acres will be farmed – even though they haven’t been used for agriculture for decades.A similar situation happened at another of Chetner’s projects in 2009. The ALC allowed him to build 20 lakefront townhomes, in a development dubbed the Waterfront, which is on land that prior to 1972 was used as a campground.In both Boucherie Beach and the Waterfront, the ALC allowed Chetner to remove a “marginal” amount of land from the ALR that was never used commercially, ALC executive director Colin Fry told BIV.The ALC’s requirement for approving the Waterfront was similar to its requirement for approving Boucherie Beach: Chetner must farm most of the site.He has since sold eight of the Waterfront’s 12 acres to Kalala Organic Estate Winery owner Karnail Sidhu, who plans to plant grapes, fruit trees and build a winery and organic fruit stand on the back of the Waterfront site,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler sale[/url], away from the lake.Sidhu also has an agreement with Chetner that allowed Sidhu to plant grape vines on seven of Boucherie Beach’s 12 acres.Previous site owners grew grapes in the 1980s but removed the vines when then-prime minister Brian Mulroney’s federal government committed to give growers $8,000 for each acre of grape vines they removed.That policy was part of how Mulroney secured support for the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement – a pact that he admitted at the time might harm the B.C. wine industry.Quail’s Gate Winery CEO Tony Stewart,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]discount moncler jackets[/url],[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler outlet[/url], who took part in the program, said farmers were free to do whatever they wanted with the land immediately after they removed the grapes, including planting different crops,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler outlet[/url], different grape varieties or creating different row alignments. They could also plant the identical grape varieties or leave the land vacant.Stewart said none of the best grape-growing land in the Okanagan is vacant and that the land that is part of Chetner’s projects is “marginal” for grapes.Sidhu agreed that his new land is not the best. To overcome challenges, such as a high water table and propensity for early frost,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler on sale[/url], Sidhu will use “smart farming” practices, such as:grafting vines onto rootstock that is bred for shallow earth to avoid the water table;planting Vidal and Kerner grape varieties,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler down jackets[/url], which like colder weather, ripen early and will be used in ice wine; andusing automated overhead irrigation to prevent the effects of early frost.Fry said agricultural land decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.“It’s difficult, when you look at a specific case, to extrapolate that to a general policy,” he said.“The commission was approached to give consideration to a modest land-use expansion to accommodate the [Trasolini Chetner] development. The commission turned around and said,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler on sale[/url], ‘OK, what else can we do to [increase agricultural use]?’”Tags: Brian Mulroney, agriculture,[url=http://www.moncler-sale.org]moncler sale[/url], real estate
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