View - The Municipality of Lambton Shores

in Forest. Their sons, David and Ron both reside on properties other than the subject
lands. The dwelling on the subject lands is surplus to their needs and as a result the
Vanos’s would like to dispose of it. Normally a farmer resides on another farm. Mr. and
Mrs. Vanos situation is different than some of the other applications Council has
considered for surplus dwellings severances, in that they do not reside on one of the
other agricultural properties they own. This situation is similar to David Hendrix, who
lives in Forest and who was granted a similar consent on Townsend Line. The
Provincial Policy Statement defines “residence surplus to a farming operation as:
“an existing farm residence that is rendered surplus as a result of farm
consolidation (the acquisition of additional farm parcels to be operated as one
farm operation).
Certainly, this is the situation that the Vanos family find themselves in. They all have
dwellings they reside in and the dwelling on the subject lands is surplus. It is my opinion
that this application is consistent with the 2005 Provincial Policy Statement. It does not
however comply with the Lambton Shores Official Plan which has not been updated to
reflect the 2005 Policy Statement.
The Policy Statement would require that the retained farm parcel be zoned to prohibit
the construction of a new farm dwelling on the lands. The applicants have applied for a
zoning amendment to prohibit a new dwelling on the farm parcel. As well, the Provincial
Policy Statement requires that the creation of lots comply with the minimum distance
separation formulae (MDS) for animal operations. Site inspection has revealed that
there are no animal operations in the general area; therefore the proposal complies with
the MDS.
Zoning
The subject lands are zoned “Agricultural 1 (A1)” and “Environmental Protection -
Woodlot (EP-WD)” in the Lambton Shores Zoning By-law. The “Environmental
Protection - Woodlot (EP-WD)” Zone affects the northeast 1/8 of the subject lands and
recognizes the existing woodlot. The balance of the subject lands is located in the
“Agricultural 1 (A1)” Zone. The predominant permitted use in this zone is agriculture and
associated buildings and structures. The “A1” zone requires that a farm parcel have a
minimum lot area of 38 hectares and a minimum lot frontage of 150 metres. The lands
which are to be retained in agricultural use will have a lot area of 20.6 hectares (51
acres) and a lot frontage that exceeds 150 metres. The lot complies with the lot frontage
minimum but not the lot area minimum. The area of the retained farm parcel is only
marginally smaller than the original lot. I have no concerns with the size of the retained
farm lot; however, the zoning on the retained farm parcel needs to recognize the
deficient lot area. The “A1” Zone on these lands permits an accessory farm dwelling as
a permitted use. The zoning on the remnant farm parcel will be amended to prohibit the
construction of a new non-farm dwelling as is required by the Provincial Policy
Statement.
The “Agricultural 1 (A1)” zone requires that a non-farm dwelling lot have a minimum lot
area of 0.8 hectares and a minimum lot frontage of 45 metres. The surplus dwelling lot
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