Owners of the Royal Oak Golf Course are asking to remove its greens and fairways from the Agricultural Land Reserve, part of what some see as a new threat to farmland in sa国际传媒
Within the 27 acres of the now-closed Royal Oak Golf Course are 23.5 acres designated as part of the Agriculture Land Reserve. The latest owner of the golf course, a numbered company, is seeking to have that land removed from the ALR, freeing it up for development.
The application is before the municipality of Saanich and not likely to go to councillors until well after the October election, possibly not until 2019, said Neil Findlow, Saanich鈥檚 senior planner.
Frank Leonard, former chair of the sa国际传媒 Agricultural Land Commission and Saanich mayor from 1996 to 2014, said while in the chair he became worried about the amount of farmland to be lost if golf courses withdrew from the Agricultural Land Reserve.
鈥淚 was very concerned throughout the province about golf courses that were in the ALR and struggling and saw their solution as getting out of the ALR and into development,鈥� he said.
In the past few years, four local golf courses containing agricultural land as part of their grounds have changed hands, closed down or shifted in use, all of them citing money problems.
鈥� Ardmore Golf Course in North Saanich went up for sale in April with a price tag of $3.45 million. Its 47 acres are within the Agricultural Land Reserve.
鈥� Also in North Saanich, the new owner of the 131-acre Glen Meadows Golf and Country Club announced in March it was cancelling all memberships. Golf would continue, but only on a pay-for-play basis. In 2015, the previous owners were unsuccessful in getting municipal approval to subdivide and develop 30 acres of ALR land.
鈥� Royal Oak Golf Course closed in 2016, with the owners saying it was no longer financially viable. It has since been sold to the numbered company. The only sign of what the new owners have in mind if successful in getting the land out of the ALR are vague indications of mixed use, medium to high density, said Findlow.
鈥� Prospect Lake Golf Course shut down in 2015. Its owners entered a partnership with Power to Be, a non-profit group that helps children and families in need experience the outdoors.
These closures, sales and new purposes are driven by a continent-wide demographic phenomenon well-documented by golf associations, clubs and pros. Players are getting older, and working people are busier and have less spending money, so less demand for golf is dropping.
As far back as 2012, in a well-publicized study, the National Allied Golf Associations said 38聽per cent of golfers reported they were playing less compared with only 14 per cent who reported they were playing more.
British Columbia Golf conducted a survey in 2016 and reported 680,000 people in the province identify as golfers, a slight increase. But the sa国际传媒 survey also revealed some downward market signs. Any increase is due to an influx of casual players, especially women. These are people who play only one or two times per year.
Meanwhile, the sa国际传媒 survey revealed players aged 65 and up were playing 70 per cent of the total number of rounds of golf in sa国际传媒, so seniors are now the core market.
In sa国际传媒, it was the politics of provincial governments that allowed golf to have an impact on farmland.
In 1973, recognizing the value of farmland to a mountainous province such as sa国际传媒, the NDP government under Dave Barrett, initiated the Agricultural Land Reserve. Land where agriculture was the primary use was included, other uses were forbidden and subdivision was restricted. In return, the farmers would be taxed at a significantly lower rate than if it were residential or commercial, for example, a 50 per cent reduction in school taxes.
General opinion has since held the ALR program to be a far-sighted benefit that enjoys broad public support. But there have been regular frustrations expressed by farm owners, many of whom regard their land as retirement funds.
Beginning in 1988, the Social Credit government allowed golf courses to be constructed on land within the Agricultural Land Reserve. The land would even be taxed as farmland.
It was a time of high demand for golf and tourism development, and by 1991 the Agriculture Land Commission was facing 181 golf course proposals, many containing houses and resort hotels. Eventually, 89 were allowed. In 1993, the NDP was in power and ended the transformation of farmland to golf courses.
Leonard said allowing golf on farmland was always justified as being a temporary or reversible move.
He believes the townhouse residential development around the Royal Oak Golf Course was rationalized because most of its聽land would be open space. Overall density would remain low.
So, Leonard said, as a golf course within the ALR, the Royal Oak owners would have enjoyed favourable taxation levels for decades. They also received permission to build relatively high density in an area that had none. And golf was allowed only because it was understood to be reversible if the need for farmland became acute.
鈥淭hey [owners of the Royal Oak Golf Course] would have to go back on all those agreements if the land were to be developed now,鈥� said Leonard. 鈥淔rom my point of view, it would be a very steep hill for them to climb.鈥�
But Ross Blackwell, a consultant with Four Corners Urban Design in Duncan, who looked at Prospect Lake Golf Course, said land-use decisions should be based on existing conditions, not the past.
鈥淸Royal Oak Golf Course] might have been a decent piece of farmland before it was ever turned into a golf course,鈥� said Blackwell. 鈥淏ut that ship sailed years ago.鈥�
For a start, he noted, some adjacent homes were constructed on finger-like peninsulas poking into the farmland/golf course. Farming in and around those homes would be a nightmare for farmers and residents.
Blackwell said too many people have a romantic view of farming as something peaceful, quiet, lush and green. They just love the notion of residing next door to a happy farm.
But, he said, the modern farm is best described as an industrial park. Fast-moving, noisy, dangerous machinery operates at all hours of night and day. There are also lots of dangerous chemicals and smelly substances from pesticides to weed killers to fertilizers and manure.
Blackwell said the land in the Royal Oak Golf Course was built up with imported material to create slopes and mounds. The result is no longer favourable for tractors or crops.
But Tom Baumann, professor of agriculture at the University of the Fraser Valley, said no land is beyond agricultural application. Even rock outcrops and pavement can be used for greenhouses, barns or storage for farm machinery.
He said a golf course might offer a few built-in problems. Underground infrastructure such as electrical wires and water pipes would likely have to be removed. Artificial contours in the greens would also have to be corrected.
But Baumann said golf courses usually have excellent drainage. It鈥檚 what allows greens to stay dry enough for play, even in the rain. Good drainage is always an excellent start for any farm.
鈥淲here the grass is growing, that soil is still alive, very much so,鈥� said Baumann.
He described himself as a 鈥渟taunch supporter鈥� of farmland preservation, and said authorities such as municipalities and the Agricultural Land Commission should stand firm when golf course owners ask for a chance to develop something that would permanently remove their land from farming,
Instead, he said, sa国际传媒 and the rest of sa国际传媒 should start taking pride in their farmland, their food production, and all their farm and food regulations.
Together, they mean Canadians enjoy the best and safest food in the world. Food production should not be nibbled away by putting farmland into houses or anything else that diminishes food production.
鈥淚t鈥檚 called 鈥榝ood sovereignty,鈥� 鈥� said Baumann.
Meanwhile, residents such as Donna Cino, who lives in one of the townhouse bordering the Royal Oak Golf Course, are horrified at the notion of the land turning to non-farm use.
Cino has started an online petition to protest and has 1,100 signatures. Born and raised in Royal Oak, she remembers the golf course when it was a dairy farm and growing hay.
鈥淎ny area of the course that might have been impacted by being a golf course could easily be remediated,鈥� she wrote in an email to the sa国际传媒.
鈥淚 can envision orchards, along with vegetable crops and honey bees,鈥� wrote Cino. 鈥淭he need for food security is quite paramount.鈥�
