Niagara-on-the-Lake had a blunt message Tuesday about a proposed farm market and storage hub on protected specialty crop land in St. Davids: It doesn’t belong there.
Councillors voted 7-1 against a staff-backed proposal for 263 Concession 6 Rd. that would have allowed farm equipment storage, a produce storage building and an agricultural market.
Coun. Andrew Niven summed up the concern in two words: “why here?”
Town staff had previously recommended approval, but council later directed staff to seek more input from the town’s agricultural advisory committee and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness.
In the revised report, staff also tightened the proposed farm equipment storage rules to ensure the use remains focused on serving local agricultural operations and does not expand into a broader retail business. Staff said it’s confident the application meets provincial and local planning policies.
Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa cast the lone vote in favour and Coun. Erwin Wiens was absent.
The vote came after Nicholas Colaneri, president of Centurion Building Corporation, urged council to reject the revised report.
“Farmers of the community have spoken. The neighbors have spoken,” he said at the meeting.
“Why is staff still recommending approval?”
Colaneri said Ontario’s agriculture ministry advised uses of that nature are generally better suited to hamlets, villages or towns — and municipalities should first determine whether they can be located in settlement areas rather than on agricultural land.
He warned approval could set a precedent “for agricultural land in this community for generations to come.”
“This is not a barn,” Colaneri said. “The question of whether a 43,000 square foot commercial facility — masked as agricultural related use, with no direct connection, local or on-site farm operations — belongs on designated specialty crop area and within the greenbelt, is not a local question. It is a provincial one.”
“The only responsible option here is refusal,” he said.
Following the vote, Colaneri told The Lake Report he was “genuinely grateful to council for listening carefully and making the right decision for Niagara-on-the-Lake” and particularly acknowledged the advisory committee and local farmers for speaking out on the land’s importance.
“This outcome shows that when decisions are made with the greater good of the community in mind, good things are possible,” Colaneri said.
Zalepa questioned how the town handles other agricultural-related uses facing zoning issues and how many similar applications it receives each year.
Before backing the proposal, Zalepa argued that similar applicants should be treated fairly and consistently.
But several councillors said the proposal did not belong on specialty crop land.
“In my opinion, this development really isn’t what our vision for agricultural lands is in Niagara-on-the-Lake,” Coun. Sandra O’Connor said.
She said NOTL can take a stricter approach because of its specialty crop designation.
“Niagara-on-the-Lake is allowed to be more restrictive than the provincial policy, or (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness),” O’Connor said — as long as it remains consistent with other conditions.
Coun. Wendy Cheropita also opposed the idea.
“This particular proposal shouldn’t be on agricultural land.”
Coun. Andrew Niven said he is not opposed to agricultural-related uses, but “didn’t really feel there was enough evidence why it had to go here.”
“I looked under commercial use and there were some comments about the mixed use in general commercial,” he said. “I did worry that there is a bit of a mix into broader commercial use.”
Staff said revised wording tightened the definitions so the property could not become a broader retail use. The market would have been limited mostly to produce and farm goods while banning typical general retail items such as clothing, coffee, housewares and lottery tickets — and the equipment-storage use would have been restricted to farm machinery and related accessories, with no repairs or broader consumer merchandise such as lawn mowers, snow blowers, toys or clothing.
