Anyone hoping to host large annual events in Bradford best not plan to hold them on farmland.
Based on an amendment from Ward 3 Coun. Ben Verkaik, committee of the whole recommended Jan. 21 that council approve changes to the town’s special events bylaw which would prohibit events of more than 2,000 people from occurring more than once every 10 years on any property outside the settlement boundary, Highway 400 employment lands or town-owned lands.
“The reason I’m asking for this is to protect our agricultural lands for what they’re intended, their permitted uses,” Verkaik said during the meeting.
While the move doesn’t completely prohibit larger events on those properties, Verkaik said he was inspired to push for the 10-year time frame after hearing during the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference in recent days that Ontario is losing more than 300 acres (121 hectares) of farmland every day.
According to Statistics Canada’s 2021 agriculture census, Ontario had about 4.76 million hectares of farmland in 2021, almost 236,000 fewer than the roughly five million hectares in 2016, which results in an average loss of about 129 hectares per day.
However, Statistics Canada also warns comparisons between the 2021 and 2016 results should be interpreted with caution, as their definition of a farm was updated after 2016.
Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine said he completely agreed with Verkaik’s amendment.
“Farmland is constantly getting eaten up,” he said. “It’s disappearing like crazy, and Bradford is known for being an agricultural community.”
Several councillors echoed the need to protect farmland, including Ward 2 Coun. Jonathan Scott, who said he agreed with the idea in principle but also worried the 10-year period could be an “over correction,” and suggested considering shorter time spans such as once every five years.
However, after the meeting, Verkaik explained he previously considered suggesting banning those large events on farmland altogether, and the 10-year time frame was already a compromise to allow events he expected to be infrequently held in Bradford, such as the International Plowing Match or Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (AMJ) Canada’s Jalsa Salana.
When asked if he would be willing to consider shorter periods, Verkaik said he was happy with the amendment as passed.
“We’re losing agricultural land at an alarming rate,” he said, noting officials need to do their best to help reduce the speed of that loss.
Mayor James Leduc said he was concerned for farm owners who invested in using their properties as event venues, and didn’t want them to be impacted by a potential reaction to AMJ’s proposed 2025 event.
“I’m concerned that we’re doing something out of spite,” he said.
The mayor suggested the amendment should have been sent back to staff for more information before making a decision. However, committee chair and Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu noted the decision can be pulled for discussion when it comes to council on Feb. 4, and Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano said he spoke with agritourism groups and claimed they were OK with the 2,000-person threshold.
Sandhu said he couldn’t support the amendment because it included events from 2024, which would cause the bylaw to be effective retroactively, instead of from the date on which it is potentially adopted by council.
The amendment passed 5-4 in a recorded vote with Leduc, Sandhu, Scott and Ward 1 Coun. Cheraldean Duhaney opposed.
That amendment came in response to a report from chief administrative officer Geoff McKnight, based on which committee of the whole also recommended council approve other changes to the town’s special events bylaw.
In addition to moving the management of these permit applications from the parks department to growth services, ensuring the owner of the property is responsible for the event, requiring increased insurance, and clarifying some terms, other changes include requiring:
- more consultation with staff for events planned to have more than 5,000 attendees
- a public information session for events planned to have more than 10,000 attendees
- a formal post-event debrief meeting prior to releasing any security deposits
The update also separates the fee schedule from the bylaw so that it can be updated without requiring bylaw amendment, and increases the fees which “do not reflect the town’s current cost” for application reviews and inspections, according to McKnight.
For events of less than 10,000 attendees, the fee is set to increase from $250 to $6,500; for events of more than 10,000, it'll go from $750 to $13,240 — the same cost as an application for a temporary use zoning bylaw amendment.
Giordano requested staff provide more information about permits for “mega” events during the Oct. 1 council meeting, at which council was also addressing issues related to AMJ’s annual convention.
Just last week, the town held a public information session regarding AMJ’s plans for their 2025 event, similar to what is recommended in the report.
Recommendations from committee of the whole are considered for approval at the next regular council meeting.
