In yet another appeal of a council decision to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), the future of Fields on West Lake, and the big red barn that has come to be emblematic of agriculture and tourism in Prince Edward County, hung in the balance last week

Last June council granted rezoning approval to Shirwill Holdings, a company controlled by Mark Henry and Lynn Ellis, to enable the pair to construct a 20-room inn on their century-and-a-half-old property between Wellington and Bloomfield. The proposed inn would be attached to the original farmhouse on the property, which itself accommodates five guest rooms. Henry and Ellis hope to augment their wedding, special events and farm experience business to include accommodation. Without this the property isn’t economically viable, says Henry.

But their neighbours object to what they say amounts to a commercialization of their rural neighbourhood. David and MaryLynn Ashton live across the road from Fields on West Lake and operate Sunrise Cottages, offering 13 cottages on four acres.

The Ashtons appealed council’s decision and last week, over the course of four days, outlined their objections and concerns to OMB member Norman Jackson.

MaryLynn Ashton told the adjudicator that noise and the safety of her guests are already concerns and fears these issues will get worse if Henry and Ellis are permitted to alter the zoning on the property to ‘special tourist commercial’—a designation granted to Henry and Ellis by council last summer.

Several other neighbours offered their own accounts of music disturbing their sleep and rowdy behaviour leading to vandalism and trespassing.

Bylaw Enforcement Officer Garry Davis gave evidence to say that the municipality doesn’t have a noise bylaw, though it does have a nuisance bylaw meant to protect residents from noises that might disturb them. Davis acknowledged that the bylaw was vague and not particularly helpful in sorting out the ongoing issues between neighbours.

Under cross-examination, MaryLynn Ashton admitted that until 2008 Sunrise Cottages advertised its accommodation’s as the “preferred” place to stay while attending a wedding at Fields at West Lake.

Shirwill’s lawyer Virginia McLean suggested that Ashton’s objection might have more to do with new accommodation being built across the road rather than noise or safety.

MaryLynn Ashton rejected this charge.

At the end of the second day of testimony the OMB strongly urged the neighbours to meet and to really try to find a solution among themselves rather than continue the OMB hearing.

“We are constantly criticized for being one person deciding issues in a community we don’t know,” said Jackson. “This is your community you should be the ones to find a solution.”

He wondered out loud whether he was going too far in pushing the combatants into a room to try and work the issue through.

“Social planning is a big part of planning,” said Jackson, trying to convince himself of the efficacy of his counsel. “Someone should try and solve this at the people level—not at the board level.”

The neighbours did meet for about 45 minutes later that afternoon but the meeting broke up without a resolution.

On Thursday Mark Henry told his story. He walked the member through the history of the property and his efforts to retain the agriculture and heritage value of the property. He described a decision in 2003, after looking at a a variety of farming alternatives, to build a hog operation on the property. But his partner, Lynn Ellis, pointed to the iconic barn— then in very poor shape—and observed that a decision to build hog barns would mean the end of this barn.

They committed then and there, according to Henry, to identify a way to restore and maintain the barns and structures as they were when Ellis’s ancestors built them in the 1860s. Henry said he was encouraged by Ontario Ministry of Food and Agriculture officials to consider agri-tourism opportunities—supplementing his crop and produce income with a farm experience offered to tourists and visitors. Henry was granted his first official plan amendment and rezoning to permit his untried endeavour. First came a corn maze, followed by special events and weddings in the impressively renovated and restored barn.

But the property still isn’t breaking even. Working with friends and relatives he determined that offering accommodation onsite would enable the farm to break even and perhaps yield some profit.

Henry made it clear in his half-day of evidence that he considers himself, first and always, a farmer. He went away to school earning an undergraduate degree in farm management as well as an MBA from the University of Guelph.

“I grew up on a beef farm near Sydenham Lake near Kingston,” said Henry. “I bought a dairy farm in Wellington in 1979. I was among the top ten in milk production in the County. I was the local president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture for five years.”

Henry says he and Ellis have been navigating uncharted waters—learning as they go. He said he came close to quitting a year ago when police showed up at Lynn Ellis’s daughter’s wedding after being called by neighbours.

“It was a private function, just family and friends,” said Henry. “The police cars rolled in after the first dance. We were done.”

Days later Henry listed the property for sale.

This may be what the neighbours fear most.

For while his neighbours have described him as unresponsive to their concerns, the OMB member heard abundant evidence that Henry and Ellis had taken several steps to address noise concerns—going as far as to commission a noise abatement study and purchasing expensive sound measuring technology.

Jackson asked the Ashtons and neighbours if they had a remedy. MaryLynn Ashton said she would be happy if events were restricted to the barn, the barn was insulated and the music turned down at 11 p.m.

Henry gave evidence that it is their contract with wedding parties that music is turned down at 11 p.m. and off by 1 a.m.

He observed that the Crystal Palace in Picton is a similar facility—with no insulation and large doorways—adjacent to a residential area and catering to weddings. Henry suggested it would be unfair to hold his facility to a higher standard of noise abatement than the municipal facility.

Jackson prefers no one rest comfortably during his hearings. At one point he chastised the County’s solicitor, Stephen Ellsworth, for largely sitting on his hands during a day and a half of evidence, failing to challenge witnesses for the appellant.

With his gaze fixed on Ellsworth, Jackson opined, “We expect the municipality to speak up for its instruments.”

Jackson reserved his judgment for a later date.