About 20 properties between Azilda and Chelmsford have been rezoned as rural after a fight that spanned several years and cost one family thousands of dollars.
The Laakso family, who own property on Municipal Road 35 between Azilda and Chelmsford, do not think their property should be designated as agricultural reserve lands.
This would allow them and other property owners more leeway with what they can do with the land, such as split it into smaller lots.
The area was previously zoned as an agricultural reserve.
“We have been fighting this for four years,” Pirkko Laakso said. She is the daughter of Pentti Laakso, owner of the Laakso property.
She said she was aware, that in 2004, city staff were interested in having the Laakso’s property, and others along the highway, designated as agricultural reserve as part of the city’s new official plan process. Her property had previously been zoned as rural.
We have been fighting this for four years.
Pirkko Laakso,
landowner
She said, in response to her appearance at the former city council, Coun. Claude Berthiaume stated that the area was not suited for farming. But Ron Bradley, a councillor representing Chelmsford at the time, had been arguing on council for more land being placed in the reserve.
When the city’s official plan received approval from the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs in 2007, it contained the change of land designation, affecting the Laakso property. The lands between Azilda and Chelmsford were designated as an agricultural reserve. The province claimed the city had not protected enough farmland, Laakso said.
The Laaksos launched an appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) in 2006. They then worked with newly elected Ward 4 Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac in 2007, retaining Stantec Consulting in 2008 to document their case.
Stantec, which was hired with the Laakso’s own funds, confirmed in a 2009 report the poor agricultural potential of the land, noting that much of the viable topsoil had been stripped away.
“All that is growing there is brush and small trees,” Laakso said. “To imagine a herd of cattle there beside MR 55 is ridiculous. There is nothing here now that looks like a farm.””
She also noted the property lacked infrastructure, such as barns, and an adequate supply of water.
“In former times, farmers used to share their water resources and other necessary aspects of farming like good pasture lands for grazing animals,” Laakso said. “Now that is all gone. It would cost close to $1 million in infrastructure costs to be able to farm this property.”
Ed Mozuraitis, a consultant with Stantec who prepared the report, said the lands in the area had been extensively fragmented by non-agricultural uses, and so the best classification was rural and not agricultural reserve, according to documents forwarded to the OMB.
Dutrisac said she was able to secure city council’s support in June 2007 when council passed a resolution of support for the appeal by the Laakso family.
“These are honest people,” the councillor said. “They should be treated with respect.”
Dutrisac was able to get a city lawyer to work with the Laakso’s lawyer on the case because she argued that more families along the highway were affected by the provincial ruling.
She said neighbours of the Laaksos wanted to be able to split their land into lots for their children, which could lure their children home.
“One son had to pay $65,000 for a lot in the city when he could have had a lot near his parents for free,” Dutrisac said.
On Aug. 26, the OMB ruled in the Laaksos favour and granted a modification of Greater Sudbury’s Official Plan to change the status of properties along the highway from agricultural reserve back to rural.
Supporting a family
Pentti Laakso, 87, said he purchased the land in 1952 when he immigrated from Kauhajoki, Finland with his wife, Vieno, and five children.
Though he tried to make a go of farming on 10 cleared acres, even cutting hay for his neighbours, after two years, he had to work as a land developer in Sudbury and in the construction industry across Canada to feed his growing family.
He and his wife, now deceased, had 12 children to raise.
Despite severe health problems and his age, he kept up the fight to retain full control over his land, his daughter Pirkko Laakso, said.
“My dad provided real leadership on this issue.”
Farming not a viable option: report
The Chelmsford Agricultural Reserve Agricultural Assessment 2009 report by Stantec, consultants for the Laakso family, found insufficient grounds for having the land along MR 55 between Azilda and Chelmsford being designated as part of the city’s agricultural reserve. The report indicated the Laakso farm had poor farm potential and the whole area was no longer being farmed commercially:
- the soil on the Laakso property consisted of poorly drained Azilda silt loams and poorly drained Wolf silt loams — both considered Class 3 soils, limiting general agricultural production due to excess water;
- most of the eastern Laakso property had the topsoil removed causing it to be considered eroded soils;
- the combination of excess water and erosion meant the lands would have the lowest classification for agriculture;
- there is an established residential subdivision associated with the town of Chelmsford on the western border of the whole studied area of lands;
- the vacant land north of the subdivision and west of the Laakso property has been designated as industrial land.
