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Victoria News
By Keith Vass - Victoria News

Published: October 06, 2008 6:00 PMGrowing food for sale will soon be OK for city homeowners, so long as it doesn’t moo, bray or squeal and customers aren’t coming to the door to buy.

Victoria city councillors pushed forward with changes to the city’s rules around home occupations to include urban farming for up to two people who live at an address. Only fruits and vegetables will be allowed, not livestock - though Victoria has never had restrictions on keeping chickens. Farm gate sales will also not be on the table.

Up until now, the city’s bylaws have been silent on the question of urban agriculture, said planning director Deb Day.

“This clearly says if someone says I want to get engaged with food production, we’ll be able to say yes, that’s one of the uses permitted with home occupation,” said Day.

Anyone thinking about turning their backyard garden into a farm to get a tax break can forget it, though. While provincial law says any property with $10,000 or more in produce sales should be assessed as a farm, the city will also set farm tax rates so that owners who grow that much will still be billed the same amount they would if their property were assessed as residential.

Coun. Geoff Young expressed concern about the changes opening the way to irrigation ponds and large commercial greenhouses. In response, staff will ensure that those uses aren’t allowed when a bylaw is written.

Coun. Sonya Chandler disagreed with the tax rules, arguing that farming should be encouraged in the city and token tax breaks “would suggest we value our land being used for food production.”

Tax breaks for urban farmers could be considered down the road, said Mayor Alan Lowe.

Lowe paused before calling a vote to reminisce about his parents and grandparents, who he said raised food on their land in the city, making them in effect early urban farmers, though they didn’t sell what they grew.

“That’s called gardening,” Chandler reminded him, drawing a laugh before the motion passed unanimously.

kvass@vicnews.com