Lantzville 'Urban' Agriculture - Grow Market Food But Just Not There!!

I've met both Dirk and Nicole and they seem like very friendly, committed, hard-working, entrepreneurial people and I like many of the things that they are doing. Their organization of and active participation in the Farmer's Market at North Nanaimo Town Centre (correction: Bowen Road) is a real benefit for the Nanaimo area. I admire them for their philosophy and their hard work but they are farming in the wrong place! The land they are using for intensive agriculture, no matter how 'green'/environmentally friendly it may be, is not zoned for an agricultural use so their neighbours would not have expected to have that use nearby.
I agree with those that say that the 'Temporary Use Permits' being proposed by Lantzville Council is not the right way to handle this issue but not for the reasons that they give. 'Temporary Use Permits' are intended to allow municipal Councils to allow something that wouldn't otherwise be allowed, for a limited period of time and for a price. There are very few instances where granting one would be a benefit to the community and they can give the impression that Council is being paid to look the other way at not following their bylaws/infractions.
Here is what Dirk and Nicole's former neighbours had to say about their operation and its impact on their lives/ability to enjoy their property (I think we can all guess why they are 'former' neighbours):

Dear Editor,
We've been reading all the controversy with regards to Dirk Becker and his property in Lantzville. As previous neighbours with Dirk, we thought we would put forth another side.
I don't think anyone has an issue with neighbours growing their own food, we have always grown our own vegetables.
What I think the issue is here, or was at least when we lived next to him, is the fact that he has a full-scale composting operation going on. Year after year, truck after truck, companies dumped their debris on his property so he could compost it to make soil. He was composting grass clippings from lawn maintenance companies, tree chippings from tree service companies, as well, at least on one occasion, he managed to get a tote of rotting shrimp and had that dumped there. The stench that came from his property was so bad at times that we were unable to open our windows in the summer.
This piece of property is zoned residential. When people buy in an area, one of the things that they look into is the zoning. When a property is zoned residential, the expectation is that it will be a residential neighbourhood, and not have a commercial farm/composting operation operating within that neighbourhood. What was once your piece of paradise is now ruined because of a neighbour who does as he sees fit with no regard for his neighbours or bylaws in place. This was one of the major contributing factors of our decision to move.
We do hope the District of Lantzville will stand firm with its regulations on what is allowed and not allowed on residentially zoned properties.

- S & K Palin
Nanaimo

I see two problems with making quick, poorly considered changes to municipal zoning bylaws: 1) unintended consequences - things that hadn't been thought of in the rush to 'just get it done' and 2) enforcement. When zoning bylaws are 'rejigged' to try to address one issue, someone eventually comes along and tries to 'push the boundary' and then it is up to the municipality to step in and try to enforce them. If the bylaw has been changed in haste, often what is missed is the interpretation that an individual may assign to the text of the bylaw. Enforcement has never been any municipality's strong suit - it is expensive, time-consuming and with no guarantees and, because of that, Councils often lose the will to proceed and almost everyone loses. Take, for example, the issue of secondary suites - even in areas where they are permitted, there are restrictions on things such as no. of vehicles, the amount of garbage that can be put out and the quality of construction. Unfortunately, someone decides to take advantage and, the next thing the neighbours know, the street is full of vehicles and garbage cans, making it unsightly, unsafe and unhealthy. The recently proposed District of Lantzville 'Urban Food Garden' bylaw appears to be just such a case - it contains prohibitions, numerical limits and several restrictions that are just the kind of thing someone, sooner or later, will 'challenge' and then Lantzville will have to respond or we will go down an all-too-familiar road. With all of its restrictions to try and make it acceptable in an urban neighbourhood, I would also venture to guess that the proposed bylaw would be found unworkable by the proponents of urban agriculture.
If they really wanted to speed up the process, the most direct route would be to apply to rezone their property from residential to agricultural. Either that or there are hundreds of acres of appropriately zoned farm land in Lantzville sitting unused (Negrin's, Chick's, Irvine's, Wong's). Why don't they seek a deal to lease some of this land and it would be a win-win-win situation. They would have a place to grow their tasty vegetables that wouldn't annoy any neighbours, the land owner would possibly be able to apply for farm status, thereby saving significantly on his/her taxes and so could afford to make the land available at a reasonable price and the Nanaimo area would continue to have access to tasty, fresh and healthy food.