Edge Planning

		Development Permit Areas
		Legislation
		Related Publications

British Columbia is the most urbanized province in Canada. With its prominent "mountain/valley" physiography, there is a particular focus of urbanization and agriculture within narrow valleys. Two relatively small areas of BC, the Okanagan Valley area and the south-west portion of BC, account for less than 3% of the province's land area.  However, these same two areas are home to over 80% of British Columbians and generate over 80% of the province's annual gross farm receipts.

This has resulted in a lot of people and a lot of agriculture all in the same area of the province.

In many communities, lengthy interfaces exist between agriculture and other land uses.  Rapid population growth and historic land use patterns have tended to accentuate the potential for land use conflict.  BC's diverse agriculture results in many types of farm activities, some of which may lead to concerns from non-farm neighbours about dust, odor, or noise.  Farmers also experience impacts from their non-farm neighbours, including, trespass, litter, crop theft and flooding from urban development.  This has tended to make agricultural operations more vulnerable at the urban edge. 

As a result, local governments continually face land use compatibility issues which are often focused along urban/ agricultural edges.  Historically, however, little attention has been paid to developing policies that can enhance land use compatibility and ensure the security of agriculture at the interface. 

A New Focus

The Strengthening Farming program has focused efforts to assist edge planning processes. 

Municipal and regional district planning activities are particularly well suited to investigate the "where and how" questions associated with edge planning.  Official community plans and agricultural area plans can give direction to more detailed edge planning processes. The application of land use inventories in combination with geographic information systems (GIS), provide practical means to clearly understand the land use dynamics on both sides of the urban/ agricultural edge.  This will help ensure solutions are based on 'shared responsibility'.  

Several new planning tools are available that provide local governments with an opportunity to employ different methods to improve land use compatibility. These tools include: the designation of development permit areas for the protection of farming; the adoption of farm bylaws; and provisions that provide subdivision approving officers opportunities to ensure urban development next to farming is done in a manner that lessens the potential for conflict.

To help promote compatibility between farmers and their neighbours, the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands is developing guidelines that will support local governments when addressing urban/ agricultural compatibility issues - on both sides of the edge.

The Ministry and the Agricultural Land Commission look forward to working with local governments wishing to further explore edge planning processes.
 

 

Eliminating road endings directed at the ALR, and including adequate urban side buffering into a subdivision's design, can make significant improvements to land use compatibility

 

  More Information

• Development Permit Areas for the Protection of Farming

• Edge Planning - Associated Legislation

• Publications related to Edge Planning