Concerns over size, location, and community benefit led the Lake Country council to hit the brakes on a proposal for temporary farm worker housing.
Khela Orchards Ltd. had applied to place 79 sleeping units across 17 trailers on a 7.9-hectare property within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) at 12192 Oceola Road.
Councillor Todd McKenzie, who also sits on the district鈥檚 Agricultural Advisory Committee鈥攚hich did not support the application鈥攙oiced concerns about the scale of the project.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen us do this a few times in other areas and it ends up being a bunch of trailers that are a little bit of an eyesore,鈥� he said.
While the application meets agricultural zoning regulations鈥攁llowing up to 10 sleeping units per hectare鈥攕taff noted that Khela Orchards farms 43 hectares across Lake Country. Technically, they could apply for up to 430 units.
Still, most of council didn鈥檛 see a clear benefit to the community.
鈥淲hilst I appreciate the need for the foreign workers, I personally don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 a fantastic location for that many people,鈥� said Mayor Blair Ireland, pointing out that Oceola is a busy road.
He also questioned the broader value of the operation.
鈥淚t keeps some cherry orchards going in the area鈥攖hat鈥檚 great鈥攂ut what does it bring to the community?鈥�
Councillor Tricia Brett framed it as a matter of principle.
鈥淢aybe our rules technically allow for it, but I don鈥檛 think the spirit of our rules allow for it. I think the net benefit to our community is an issue.鈥�
Councillor Michael Lewis supported the application.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see a lot of negatives for me personally,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 like the idea of supporting agriculture.鈥�
Mayor Ireland added that local agricultural operations haven鈥檛 backed similar applications in the past.
鈥淣one of our rules are set up to support big industrial agriculture, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to deal with here,鈥� he said.
Staff also noted that Khela Orchards would be responsible for paying for services like sewer and water to the trailers. The farm already has its own irrigation system, drawing water from Wood Lake.
Council voted not to move the application forward at this time.
Instead, they directed staff to work with the applicant to reduce the number of sleeping units and to develop a policy framework that could guide similar applications in the future.
