The Region of Queens' proposed new Land Use Bylaw has ruffled feathers amongst area homesteaders.

The new bylaw, which passed through first reading at the Feb. 22 council meeting, sets out rules for what, where and how anything can be built in Queens as well as what activities can take place on those properties.

Debbie J Wamboldt is a member of the Facebook group Homesteading and Growing in Queens. She says members of the group feel some parts of the new bylaw will severely restrict their ability to raise livestock and grow food on their properties for their personal consumption.

“A lot of people joining our group who have moved here from really urban places, city places, where they felt like they could move to Milton and they would be able to have animals and they would be able to have livestock,” said Wamboldt. “They felt like they could move to Port Medway and Port Mouton and have livestock and their plans are up in the air now because of all of this.”

The proposed bylaw sets out how many animals a person can raise based on the type of animal and how much space is available on the property. Wamboldt says even when owners have the space, the cost of building the fences and structures required to meet the proposed bylaw can be prohibitive.

“Generally, it's not going to impact like, our ability to have livestock or anything like that because we do own 27 acres. But as far as building restrictions go, it kind of puts a chokehold on our creativity as to how we were going [to] be able to even afford to do it. You know I don't see building material prices coming down anytime soon,” said Wamboldt.

Under the Municipal Government Act, municipalities like the Region of Queens are required to review their land-use bylaws every 10 years. The process began with the previous council in 2018 and was well underway when the new council was elected in the early days of the pandemic in 2020. Wamboldt says she was unaware of any opportunities to provide feedback on the proposed changes during that time.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman says she had staff dig out old copies of the Municipal Matters flyers. She says the information bulletin from the region, distributed to residents across the municipality, announced several public engagement sessions but those were poorly attended. Since passing first reading, the region has hosted two public sessions to hear residents’ concerns.

Norman says some of what she heard during those sessions was eye-opening.

“So, what I learned from those two public sessions and the fallout afterward, was there was a surprisingly large amount of people in Queens County who had no idea that land use zoning and planning was adopted in 2009. Suddenly there's people who are [saying] you know you have no right to tell me what I can do in my land, I own my own land. You know, how do you make people realize that we live in a society, and this is societal rules and when people move into a community they expect to know what can and cannot happen in that community,” said Norman.

Because the proposed bylaw has passed first reading, any new applications for permits must meet all existing rules as well as those contained in the proposed bylaw for 150 days.

Aside from some rezoning and now allowing residents to raise up to five chickens in most parts of the region, Norman says most of the rules haven’t changed since 2009.

“And it is unfortunate that people have started up small farms since 2009 on not the amount of land they need for the animals they have because they threw everything out that they get from the region of Queens in the garbage because they only thing they get from the region of Queens are bills. Well, that's unfortunate,” said Norman. “People need to be responsible for themselves. I don't care if they live in downtown Liverpool or on the border of Queens and Shelburne. People need to take their own responsibility and keep themselves informed.”

Norman says staff will be presenting a report to council at their April 12 meeting to provide options for revising the bylaw or passing it, as is.

If the bylaw goes ahead, it could go into effect sometime in the fall.

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