Whereas amendments to the Agricultural Land Commission Act and Agricultural Land Reserve Regulation were amended such that the Agricultural Land Commission ALC is no longer accepting Agricultural Land Reserve ALR Exclusion Applications from private property owners; And whereas ALR Exclusion Applications are now only accepted from local governments or First Nation or other prescribed bodies; And whereas under the new legislative scheme, the responsibility for submitting ALR Exclusion Applications including all application requirements such as public hearings, advertising, signage, and review of technical reports falls to local governments; And whereas responsibility for ALR Exclusion Applications require considerable administration, staff time, and financial resources; And whereas ALR Exclusion Applications solely benefit private property owners: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM petition the ALC to rightfully reinstate responsibility for ALR Exclusion Applications back on private property owners.
Provincial Agricultural Land Commission: his legislative change was one of a suite of changes government made in 2019 to the ALC Act and its regulations as part of governments ongoing commitment to revitalize the ALR and the ALC. In 2019, an independent committee appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, recommended that government take a stronger approach to the preservation of the ALR, including policies that would minimize andor eliminate removal of land from the ALR. This followed extensive engagement with stakeholders and the public. In the report, the committee found that the current ability for ALR landowners to apply to exclude permanently remove land from the ALR is likely a significant contributor to speculation and the increasing cost of land in the ALR. Land is purchased or optioned for residential, port, industrial, and other uses unrelated to agriculture, with the idea that it might be excluded. The resulting land values are placing agricultural land well beyond the reach of farmers. In some instances the land is purchased and remains unutilized for agriculture while it is being held for speculative development purposes. In response, Government amended the ALC Act to restrict who could apply for exclusion and at the time stated the change was being made to encourage these types of applications be done as part of thoughtful land-use planning process. This change placed local government in the drivers seat in terms of future exclusion. A copy of the independent committees final report is available on the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods website Government releases independent report on revitalizing ALR. ALC I BC Gov News and recommendation 13, specific to exclusion applications, can be found on page 69. Resolution NR59 asks that the ALC reinstate responsibility for ALR exclusion applications back to private property owners and away from local governments. As an administrative tribunal, the ALC is responsible for administering legislation adopted by government and has no authority with respect to the development and adoption of Provincial legislation; this is the purview of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. For this reason, I have copied the honourable Minister Pam Alexis on this communication. URLs: Press Release April 30, 2019 https:news.gov.bc.careleases2019AGRI0034-000826 Study entitled Revitalizing the Agricultural Land Reserve and the Agricultural Land Commission see recommendation 13 on page 69 https:engage.gov.bc.caappuploadssites121201904Final-Committee-Report-to…