Lead or follow?

Does the County’s official plan promote or hinder the County’s economic prospects?

Richard Johnston and Vida Zalnieriunas recently celebrated 20 years in the winegrowing business in Prince Edward County. It was a modest affair, befitting for the hardworking and thoughtful entrepreneurs. They weren’t the first to plant grapevines in the County—but early enough to make it a daring move—coaxing fine wine from untested soil in a little-known region.

Many heartaches and hard lessons followed. But today, their winery By Chadsey’s Cairns is a popular destination for wine lovers as well as those seeking a rewarding experience mixing agriculture, history and the science, or alchemy, of winemaking.

In recent years, Richard and Vida have been looking to slow down and step away from winery and vineyards— but with little luck. Not for lack of interest. Many folks have looked at the property— perched majestically over Lake Ontario —and the winery business. But none have yet figured out how to generate sufficiently attractive return from a fresh investment.

Potential investors see the great old house and the various barns, sheds and outbuildings— remnants of another farming era—and they easily see opportunities to augment the wine business with food, events and accommodation services. Yet a visit to the County’s planning services department quickly extinguishes these possibilities. So they take their capital elsewhere.

Johnston says the County needs to take another look at its winery policy, but it also needs to consider more broadly the opportunities of agri-tourism and agri-business.

“The current rules are too limiting,” explained Johnston. “If we are pursing the wine sector in Prince Edward County—the jobs, investment and growth—we need to reflect this desire in the official plan.”

As it happens, the County is currently nearing the end of a years’ long process to update and modernize its Official Plan—the first such overall rewrite in two decades. A draft was posted for review on the County’s website in July. To view the draft, click here.

But the current draft, while acknowledging the role of the wine business and agri-tourism in driving the local economy, offers little by way of concrete measures to facilitate continued investment and growth in the sector. Worse, for some, it bakes in some outdated and obsolete ideas about agriculture in the County in 2016.

Johnston hopes to start a conversation and to engage the broader community in the official plan update—what it means to the County in terms of jobs, investment and opportunity.

“The OP must reflect the fact that the industrial base has changed,” said Johnston. “There is no massive manufacturing investment in the region. We need to enhance, nurture and stabilize the economy that has grown in the community.”

WORK IN PROGRESS
Johnston isn’t alone in his desire to see the official plan rewritten to acknowledge and support the growth of the wine, agri-tourism and valueadded agriculture producers and processors in the County.

Community and economic development officer Neil Carbone, says his department and the commission are participating closely in the rewrite— providing comments and feedback. He is reluctant, however, to characterize or comment upon a process that is still unfolding.

“Our department and the commission are submitting comments,” explained Carbone. “We are looking at whether the OP policies meet our strategic priorities around community and economic development—highlighting the good things and pointing to things we believe are missing”.

Carbone says that while the official plan update is winding down, it remains an iterative process—subject to more revisions.

“We are nearing the end of the process,” said Carbone. “That does not mean that there won’t be some substantial changes made as a result of comments from participants and stakeholders.”

Pressed to respond to questions about whether the current draft goes far enough to nurture agri-tourism, winery growth and value-added food processing, Carbone begged to allow the process to unfold.

“I am reluctant to comment on it knowing there are still changes to come. From our perspective, there are still things to be discussed and comments to be made.”

He expects the commission will want to weigh in on the OP when it meets later this month. Carbone agrees that the OP must strive to reflect what the County is, rather than what it once was. He points to the Old School Bluegrass Camp dreamed up and conducted by Alysa Hawkins and Jesse Parker at their home—the 11,000 squarefoot former elementary school in Milford.

“That was a perfect example of an emerging demand arising in this economy,” said Carbone. “We need to ensure we can accommodate them in our policies. Those are the things we will be looking for and promoting.”

SAFEGUARD
On the other side of the debate is John Thompson, who worries that loosening land use rules on farmland will result in pressure on current agriculture activities. Thompson is a former chair of the Prince Edward Federation of Agriculture and a former County council member.

“We do not find the current winery policy to be overly restrictive,” said Thompson. “Farm wineries and estate wineries are permitted in both the rural and prime agricultural designations. Farm wineries are permitted “as-of-right” with no planning approvals required and can include a licensed-tied house. If a farm winery wishes to diversify further, they can apply for site specific zoning and site plan approval by the County. This process is a safeguard to the health and safety of the public and the integrity of our agricultural areas.”

Thompson adds that when this policy was developed in 2009, the winegrowers’ association described the deal as a “win for all stakeholders and a fine example of a collaborative effort to benefit the industry.”

THAT WAS THEN
For some, Johnston may seem an unlikely champion of more liberal land use policies. The former provincial NDP candidate and advisor is, first and foremost, attuned to the needs of the community. He is a widely respected community activist working to improve education, housing and opportunities for the disenfranchised and neglected in our community.

In addition to building By Chadsey’s Cairns he has been an important advocate for the emerging winegrowing and tourism sector as an early leader of both the Prince Edward County Winegrowers Association and the regional tourism organization—the Great Waterway.

Yet his personal and professional experience tell him the County has been slow to recognize the opportunities that reside in its midst. For example, he sees Sandbanks Provincial Park as a powerful annuity, attracting a new generation to the bounty of Prince Edward County each summer, rather than burden to be tolerated.

Commodity producers—milk, grain, meat— will continue feel pressure to expand and consolidate to remain competitive. That means larger, but fewer farms.

The 100- or 200-acre farm that once defined Ontario agriculture, can no longer sustain a family—but land use rules have struggled to keep up with the innovative ways entrepreneurs in the County have sought to resurrect these traditional agricultural assets.

“The canning industry once thrived in PEC,” said Johnston. “But it left because it could not scale-up process effectively. There was no value added. We lost because we were in a commodity business—with out a cost advantage.”

That, he says, has changed with the latest wave of investment— not only in wine, but in hops, beer, spirits and foods including cheeses, sausage, jams, preserves and specialty products including sauerkraut and kimchi.

“None of these products are price critical,” explained Johnston. County producers are adding value, whether in the process, presentation, preparation or distribution. It is a stable platform from which to grow. We live, work and compete in a very different context today.”

Johnston would like to see the County’s official plan lever the natural beauty of the County along with the natural emergence of food and drink innovation. He points to a European model—of small farms grounded in agriculture, but exploiting opportunities to market farm experiences.

A EUROPEAN APPROACH
In Tuscany, it is known as farm-tourism.

According to a Tuscan website, small, diversified farms are ideally suited to agri-tourism. “Unlike the mega-hog facility or a corn/soy operation producing raw materials for industry, the small farm recreates a picture of an earlier, simpler, human-scale ideal of farming.”

The current draft of the County’s Official Plan takes a more restrictive view of agri-tourism: “The adaptive reuse of surplus farm facilities on existing farms for agriculture-related uses, on-farm diversified uses and agri-tourism uses may only be permitted at a scale that is appropriate to preserve the primacy of the farm operation for the purpose of preserving cultural heritage structures and landscapes.”

Johnston worries the next official plan will be out of date and out of touch with the reality on the ground the moment it is adopted.

“We have some basic assumptions about land use in this community that are simply wrong,” said Johnston. “We must make it easier to provide intimate, unique experiences.”

BARRIERS
Johnston points to the five barns that stand empty around the winery. He would like to use them or make them available for others to use. He has considered offering the space for a market for local fruit and vegetables. The current OP, however, won’t allow it. He is restricted to a retail shop of 4,000 square feet.

“These barns have no direct agricultural uses,” says Johnston. “But they could be easily modified for ancillary uses—but the official plan prohibits it.”

It is a troubling irony that there is no money or help offered to him to preserve these traditional farm buildings, yet he is not permitted to generate revenue or income from them. In effect, the current policy discourages the maintenance and upkeep of these historic farm structures.

One prospective investor was rebuffed when they inquired about constructing temporary or seasonal dwellings on a vacant portion of the property.

“The field has been fallow for 40 years,” said Johnston. “But they were told their plans simply weren’t possible. But they could cover it with solar panels. We are looking for consistency.”

Johnston says easing restrictions to encompass existing buildings for ancillary activities including restaurants and accommodation would free up the resources to maintain these structures while growing the County economy.