A unanimous vote at City Hall yesterday will send a large non-conforming residential application to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) for their consideration.
The proposed home at 298 Cornish Rd. in Rutland is 653 square metres, 153 square metres more than city regulations allow.
However, Dean Strachan Community Planning and Development Manager, said the home is an appropriate size for its' nine occupants and the families intend on growing.
“The regulations themselves were intended to curtail large homes from being constructed on agricultural land, not for the purpose of farming families but for just a large residence. This is somewhat of an unintentional consequence we're waiting to see how the ALC deals with multi-generational families on ALC land,” said Strachan.
Councillors Luke Stack and Mohini Singh applauded the family's commitment to farming the area.
“It doesn't really fit the new guideline but when you know you have a family that's working together to farm the land, that's a good thing. We want to see people farming the land and producing from this property.” said Stack.
Councillor Singh highlighted the applicants currently farm tree fruits and nursery plants on the land they wish to build on.
“This is a multi-generational family who wants work together, live together and raise their children together and as we heard from staff this morning, that the area/space per person is not something over the top, it's in keeping and what is expected for Canadian standard of living.”
She added that the home will be built close to the road to limit the impact to farmable land.
The Baring family had their proposed home designed between September and November 2018, six months before the ALC instituted their new rules regarding the maximum size of a principal residence on February 22, 2019.