| Copyright © 2003: Agricultural Land Commission, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada |
This is not the official version. |
| Only the printed version issued by the
Agricultural Land Commission is the official version. Copies of the official
version may be obtained from the Agricultural Land Commission, Room 133 - 4940
Canada Way, Burnaby, BC V5G 4K6, telephone: 604 660-7000. Copyright in the electronic version of this Policy belongs exclusively to the Province of British Columbia. This electronic version is for private study or research purposes only. |
|
 Agricultural Land Commission Act |
Policy #8 PERMITTED USES IN THE ALR: |
| This policy provides advice to assist in the interpretation of the Agricultural Land Commission Act, 2002 and Regulation. In case of ambiguity or inconsistency, the Act and Regulation will govern. | |
REFERENCE:
Agricultural Land Reserve Use, Subdivision and Procedure Regulation (BC Reg. 171/2002), the "Regulation", Section 3 (1) (b)
| Section 3 (1) | "the following land uses are permitted in an agricultural land reserve unless otherwise prohibited by a local government bylaw: | ||
| (b) | for each parcel, | ||
| (i) | one secondary suite within a single family dwelling, and | ||
| (ii) | one manufactured home, up to 9 m in width, for use by a member of the owner’s immediate family; | ||
| Section 1 (1) | "immediate family" means,with respect to an owner, the owner’s | |
| (a) | parents, grandparents and great grandparents, | |
| (b) | spouse, parents of spouse and stepparents of spouse, | |
| (c) | brothers and sisters, and | |
| (d) | children or stepchildren, grandchildren and great grandchildren; | |
INTERPRETATION:
The Regulation permits a secondary suite for residential purposes, wholly contained within a single family dwelling, on a parcel in the ALR. The secondary suite use is not limited as to who occupies the suite. The Regulation also provides for one manufactured home, in addition to a dwelling, on a parcel in the ALR, but only for use by the property owner’s immediate family. The maximum width of manufactured or mobile home allowed is 9 metres, which provides for what is commonly known as a ‘double-wide’. The Commission may make an exception to the width requirement in the Peace and Northern Rockies Regional Districts to provide for a ‘double wide’ up to the industry standard width (10 metres).
The Regulation defines "immediate family" as noted above. If the manufactured home is no longer occupied by immediate family of the property owner, it is no longer a permitted use in the ALR and must be removed from the parcel or, if it remains, not used for residential purposes.
It should be noted that Section 18 (a) (ii) of the Agricultural Land Commission Act provides for one residence per parcel of land, and more than one residence where "the additional residences are necessary for farm use." See Commission Policy "Additional Residences for Farm Use".
Related uses that are not permitted in the Act or Regulation for residential use require application to and approval from the Commission.
Where a zoning bylaw is in place, this use must be specifically permitted by the bylaw.
TERMS:
Secondary suite — means an area set aside for residential use, within the footprint of a single family dwelling, and secondary or ancillary to the residential use of that single family dwelling.
Manufactured home — means a transportable prefabricated structure, whether ordinarily equipped with wheels or not, that is designed, constructed or manufactured to be moved from one place to another and to be used for residential use by a single family. The structure normally conforms to the CSA Z240 series standards of the Canadian Standards Association for manufactured homes.