There isn't a whole lot of farming within the city limits these days, but there are still pockets around Barrie, particularly in the south end.
One landowner is hoping to keep that tradition alive in the short-term on land abutting Highway 400.
SmartCentres has applied to the city for a temporary-use bylaw on behalf of its subsidiary, Barrie-Bryne Development Ltd., for a property located near Highway 400 and Harvie Road, not far from where the new bridge is being built.
A online public meeting was held during Monday night's planning committee to discuss the application, which would permit agricultural activity limited to field crops, such as soybean and corn.
The property has been farmed as an interim use every year since 2014.
Temporary use was previously permitted under a 2014 bylaw and extended in 2017. It expired on Feb. 9, 2020, but the landowner hopes it can continued to be farmed in the meantime.
The temporary-use bylaw, if approved, would renew agricultural use until 2023.
The 88-acre property is zoned for light industrial and general commercial, as well as environmental protection along the creeks on the site. The land is currently undeveloped and is surrounded by homes to the northwest near Thrushwood Drive, businesses to the south near Bryne Drive, and bordered by the highway to the east.
Tyler Peers, from SmartCentres, said they are simply looking to continue with farming being allowed on the land, which includes 700 metres of frontage along Highway 400. The application would not result in any development on the property, he noted.
"This is an interim use ... because we do envision development here one day, but as that is not in the cards at the moment, we are continuing to farm the property until future development comes to fruition," Peers said.
No one called into the meeting to offer their opinions on the proposed temporary-use extension, but there were some archeological concerns raised by a resident through correspondence.
"This site was surveyed and documented back in the mid-1980s and is an entire Aboriginal village estimated to be around 400 years old that, at its height, may have been home to 400-500 people in at least 12 buildings," David O'Brien wrote in his letter to the city. "It is believed to be one of the last Huron-Wendat village sites located on undeveloped lands.
"I understand that this bylaw is for temporary agricultural use, but with the new Big Bay Point/Harvie Road overpass and the planned extension of Bryne Drive through this site, I believe this piece of our Canadian history is under threat from development," O'Brien added.
Michelle Banfield, the city's director of development services, said continued farming of the land could be done ahead of Bryne Drive extension and any development of the property.
City planning staff expects to bring a recommendation report back to planning committee in 2020, which would also address any archeological concerns, she added.
