1995 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
MR. HARRY de JONG
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, enacts as follows:
1 The Agricultural Land Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 9, as amended, is amended by the addition of the following section:
1.1 For the purposes of this Act, the province is hereby designated to contain the following Agricultural Land Regions:
(1) Northlands consisting of the electoral districts of:
Bulkley Valley-Stikine
North Coast
Peace River North
Peace River South
Prince George-Mount Robson
Prince George North
Prince George-Ominica
Skeena
(2) Central Interior consisting of the electoral districts of:
Cariboo North
Cariboo South
Kamloops
Kamloops North-Thompson
Okanagan-Boundary
Okanagan East
Okanagan-Penticton
Okanagan-Vernon
Okanagan West
Shuswap
Yale-Lillooet
(3) Kootenays consisting of the electoral districts of:
Columbia River-Revelstoke
Kootenay
Nelson-Creston
Rossland-Trail
(4) Lower Mainland consisting of the electoral districts of:
Abbotsford
Burnaby-Edmonds
Burnaby North
Burnaby-Willingdon
Chilliwack
Coquitlam-Maillardville
Delta North
Delta South
Fort Langley-Aldergrove
Langley
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows
Matsqui
Mission-Kent
New Westminister
North Vancouver-Lonsdale
North Vanouver-Seymour
Port Coquitlam
Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain
Powell River-Sunshine Coast
Richmond Centre
Richmond East
Richmond Steveston
Surrey-Cloverdale
Surrey-Greentimbers
Surrey-Newton
Surrey-Whalley
Surrey-White Rock
Vancouver-Burrard
Vancouver-Fraserview
Vancouver-Hastings
Vancouver-Kensington
Vancouver-Kingsway
Vancouver-Langara
Vancouver-Little Mountain
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant
Vancouver-Point Grey
Vancouver-Quilchena
West Vancouver-Capilano
West Vancouver-Garibaldi
(5) Vancouver Island consisting of the electoral districts of:
Alberni
Comox Valley
Cowichan-Ladysmith
Esquimalt-Metchosin
Malahat-Juan de Fuca
Nanaimo
North Island
Oak Bay-Gordon Head
Parksville-Qualicum
Saanich North and the Islands
Saanich South
Victoria-Beacon Hill
Victoria Hillside
2 The Agricultural Land Commission Act is hereby amended by the addition of the following section:
2.1 (1) There is hereby established for each of the Agricultural Land Regions constituted under this Act an Agricultural Land Regional Appeal Board, consisting of 3 members each, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council from a list of 7 persons each recommended by the Select Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly on Agriculture and Fisheries.
(2) To be eligible for appointment to an Agricultural Land Regional Appeal Board, a person shall be:
(a) a registered voter in that region, who has been ordinarily resident there for at least ten years, and,
(b) a person who does not hold any other public office or appointment which entitles him or her to remuneration and who has not held office in the preceding five years as a director or officer of any association of real estate agents or developers, on any association of agricultural producers or suppliers, or other association active in promoting or opposing the inclusion or exclusion of land from the Agricultural Land Reserve.
(3) Appointment shall be for a term of three years.
(4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council shall make regulations with respect to the procedure of Agricultural Land Regional Appeal Boards, including the financial disclosure statements required of members, their remuneration and reimbursements of members for reasonable travelling and out of pocket expenses necessarily incurred in discharging their duties, as well as the application of conflict of interest rules to their proceedings.
(5) Each member of an Agricultural Land Regional Appeal Board shall file annually a financial disclosure statement in prescribed form, with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, and with the clerk of each Regional District having lands within the jurisdiction of the member's appeal board.
3 Section 13 of the Agricultural Land Commission Act is hereby reinstated as follows:
13 (1) A person who is dissatisfied with the decision of the commission on an application for exclusion, subdivision, or non-agricultural use, may appeal to the applicable Agricultural Land Regional Appeal Board established under this Act.
(2) The commission is entitled to be a party on the appeal.
(3) An Agricultural Land Regional Appeal Board may, after a hearing, allow the appeal subject to the terms it considers advisable, or dismiss the appeal.
(4) In considering an appeal under this section, an appeal board shall give due consideration to:
(a) The local government's zoning by-laws and community plan;
(b) The proximity to, and effect on local services of any proposed change in use;
(c) Current technology and current and projected market conditions with respect to potential agricultural uses and their likely impact on the economy of the community and of the region, and economical parcel size;
(d) The overall costs and benefits of any proposed change in use on the community and the region generally, and on agricultural viability in the region;
(e) The availability, cost and convenience of alternate sites in the region for any proposed non-agricultural use; and
(f) the needs of a community as they relate to public educational, health and religious facilities.
(5) Subject only to the same conditions and procedures established under section 21 of this Act, a decision of an appeal board under this section is conclusive.
4 This Act shall come into force by regulation.
This Bill divides the province into five natural agricultural land regions and provides for regionally appointed appeal boards to ensure a more regionally sensitive form of accountability. This bill also extends the jurisdiction of the appeal boards to allow for consideration to be given to the needs of a community as they relate to public education, health and religious facilities.
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