2001 Review of Surrey Agricultural Land Use

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1 2001 Review of Surrey Agricultural Land Use In mid 2001 the City of Surrey commissioned a land use review of properties located within the City s Official Community Plan Agricultural Designation. In addition to being useful information to assist with ongoing agricultural issues and policy, the primary purpose of the land review was to provide a land use profile to be used in preparation of the City s Agriculture Development Strategy. The review was conducted by, a local consultant, in consultation and co-ordination with the Surrey Agricultural Advisory Committee, staff from the Surrey Planning and Development Department and staff representatives from the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. The methodology for this review consisted of Preparing an database inventory of all properties located in the OCP Agricultural Designation, including lots address, legal description, property area, zoning, and ALR status (City of Surrey). Conducting site visits (Consultant) for all properties to identify: the type of use - primary and secondary. for properties having either primary or secondary agricultural use, what type of agricultural activity and the scale of operation (large or small). Combining site visit data with the agricultural property database inventory and preparing the comprehensive database for submission to the City of Surrey (Consultant, Ministry of Agriculture, City of Surrey) Methodology for the review was also designed to complement previous agricultural land use studies done by the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, and to support Ministry objectives to assemble a comprehensive agricultural land database for the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. The completed agricultural land inventory has been incorporated into the City of Surrey Geographic Information System to allow further mapping and analysis as may be required for the Agricultural Development Strategy and in future consideration of agricultural land use policies and issues. The remainder of this document provides a summary of the 2001 Agricultural Land review.

2 Summary of Findings The agricultural land review included 1,478 properties totaling 9,417 hectares of land - excluding major water courses and rights-of-way for roads and utilities. About 67% of the property area (745 properties and 6,284 hectares) was being used primarily for some type of agricultural use. Another 23% was being used for non-agricultural purposes including residential (13%), golf courses (5%), park and other uses 5%. A further 10% of the land was not being utilized. The table in Figure 1 and the map in Figure 2 show the distribution of primary land uses. Figure 1. Primary Land Use in Surrey Agricultural Lands Primary Land Use In ALR % Non ALR % Total Area Agriculture 6, % % 6, % Residential Use % % 1, % Not in use % % % Golf Course % 0 0.0% % Park % % % Commercial/Service Use % % % Recreational Use % 2 0.3% % Land in Transition % - 0.0% % Freshwater aquaculture % 3 0.5% % Institutional Use 6 0.1% % % Industrial Use % - 0.0% % Mobile Home Park % % % Hobby Farm % - 0.0% % Cultural/Entertainment Use % 3 0.4% % Unknown 2 0.0% 4 0.6% 6 0.1% Utility 1 0.0% - 0.0% 1 0.0% Total Area 8, ,417 % About 93% (8,723 hectares) of Surrey s agricultural lands are within the Agricultural Land Reserve. Almost all of the Agricultural land outside of the ALR is located in the southeast corner of the city, with the majority of properties being used for rural residential / secondary agricultural purposes. Surrey also has lands zoned and utilized for agriculture outside of the Agriculture designation and ALR. These lands were not included in the review. Looking at land use only for those properties located within the ALR shows the percentage of land area used primarily for agriculture increases just slightly from 67% to 69%, while land area used primarily for residential use decreases from 13% to 11%. Of the ALR lands used primarily for residential, about 1/3 of that land had agriculture as a secondary or tertiary use. Almost all of the 445 hectares of Golf Course use within the Agricultural lands is within the ALR, amounting to 4.7% of ALR land area. Excluding golf courses from the ALR land area increases agricultural use to 73% of the land within the ALR.

3 HWY #15 HWY #15 Lands identified by the review as Not-in-Use were completely with the ALR. Of these 929 hectares, about half was identified as abandoned or un-used farm land. A subsequent analysis of the not-in-use land indicates that about 70 hectares are attributable to city park or park consideration. However, the status of the remaining not-in-use lands requires further assessment. Figure 2. Surrey Agricultural Lands and Primary Land Use Legend ALR Boundary 2001 Land Uses Agriculture Residential Use Golf Course Not in use Park Commercial/Service Use Recreational Use Cultural/Entertainment Use Land in Transition Freshwater aquaculture Hobby Farm Industrial Use Institutional Use Mobile Home Park Unknown Utility #1 Hwy Fraser Hwy. 112 Ave 104 Ave 96 Ave 88 Ave 80 Ave 72 Ave 64 Ave HWY #10 #10 Hwy 56 Ave 48 Ave 40 Ave 32 Ave HWY #99 24 Ave 16 Ave 128 St 136 St 144 St 152 St 8 Ave 160 St 0 Ave 168 St 176 St 184 St 192 St 196 St King George Hwy. 120 St

4 Agricultural Land Use Activities Of the lands primarily utilized for agriculture, forage operations make up the largest single percentage (25%) of property allocation. Vegetable (20%) and berry (12%) farms also account for a significant amount of land area, while beef and dairy combine for 13%. Greenhouse and nursery operations use up to 6% of the land area. Agricultural lands outside of the ALR are used largely for horse farms (28%) and pasture (16%), with dairy and poultry combining for 19% The table in Figure 3 and the map in Figure 4 show the detailed allocation of agricultural uses for agricultural properties both within and outside of the ALR. Figure 3. Agricultural Use on Agricultural Property as Percentage of Total Agricultural Property Area Agricultural Use In ALR % Non-ALR % Total Area Forage Operation 1,568 26% 16 7% 1,584 25% Field Vegetable Farm 1,192 20% 5 2% 1,197 19% Berry Farm % 2 1% % Pasture % 36 16% % Dairy Farm 396 7% 23 10% 419 7% Beef Cattle Farm 387 6% 11 5% 397 6% Horse Farm 131 2% 63 28% 194 3% Greenhouse Operation 148 2% 2 1% 149 2% Nursery (incl. Greenhouses) 140 2% - 0% 140 2% Nursery 133 2% 4 2% 138 2% Not Recorded 132 2% 4 2% 135 2% Poultry Farm 90 1% 20 9% 109 2% Stable/Riding Facility 93 2% 6 3% 100 2% Abandoned or unused farm 91 1% - 0% 91 1% land Sheep/Goat Farm 54 1% 4 2% 58 1% Livestock operation - type 36 1% 7 3% 43 1% unknown Poultry - backyard flock 17 0% - 0% 17 0% Unknown 5 0% 7 3% 13 0% Feedlot 12 0% - 0% 12 0% Llama/Alpaca Farm - 0% 12 5% 12 0% Beef/Sheep or goat 10 0% - 0% 10 0% Vineyard 9 0% - 0% 9 0% Specialty Crop Production 6 0% - 0% 6 0% Exotic Animal Farm 6 0% - 0% 6 0% UNCLEAR - 0% 4 2% 4 0% Mushroom Farm 4 0% - 0% 4 0% Apiary 3 0% - 0% 3 0% Tree Farm 3 0% - 0% 3 0% - - Total Area 6, ,284 %

5 HWY #15 HWY #15 Figure 4. Location of the Most Common Agricultural Uses Legend ALR Boundary Agricutural Land Uses Forage Operation Field Vegetable Farm Berry Farm Pasture Dairy Farm Beef Cattle Farm Horse Farm Greenhouse Operation Nursery (incl. Greenhouses) Nursery Poultry Farm Poultry - backyard flock King George Hwy. #1 Hwy 112 Ave 104 Ave 96 Ave 88 Ave 80 Ave Fraser Hwy. 72 Ave HWY #10 #10 Hwy 64 Ave 56 Ave 48 Ave 40 Ave 32 Ave 120 St 24 Ave 16 Ave 128 St 136 St 144 St 152 St 8 Ave 160 St 0 Ave 168 St 176 St 184 St 192 St 196 St HWY #99 Conclusion The Agricultural Land Review provides a vital 2001 snapshot of agricultural land use in Surrey. In addition to providing base information to the Surrey Agricultural Development Strategy, the land review will generally support and inform ongoing agricultural policy issues.