Municipality of Lakeshore officially opposes commercial greenhouse development

At its last regular meeting this term, the Municipality of Lakeshore’s council voted 5 to 2 in favour of taking an official stance of opposition on the matter of commercial greenhouse development.

It’s a hot debate in the community that’s only gotten hotter as the end of a moratorium on any greenhouse construction approaches — in place until March, the moratorium was to give town hall time to get bylaws in order around the industry.

Coun. Linda McKinlay who brought forth the motion, said the community just isn’t ready for commercial greenhouses.

Her motion cites public opposition, inadequate infrastructure related to traffic, water and energy demand and insufficient resources related to enforcing regulatory compliance, to name a few.

“We need all this met before we can allow greenhouses in the municipality,” McKinlay said.

McKinlay, who isn’t seeking re-election and thus is officially retired from council as of the conclusion of Tuesday’s meeting, said one need only look to nearby Leamington and Kingsville to see the burden commercial greenhouses bring.

“Greenhousing got there first,” she said “The mayors and councils have had to work with what’s there and play catch-up after... To me, it’s too much confusion. You should start out with your rules and your regulations and bylaws and then you talk about greenhousing,” said McKinlay.

The outgoing councillor said one major sticking point is that these sites are not taxed enough to cover the fuss they create in the community. I.e. wear and tear on roads, demand on water infrastructure, etc.

Commercial greenhouses are classified as farming. McKinlay expressed they should be seen as industry.

“They don’t pay taxes to cover the costs so who picks that up? The rest of the residents pick that up,” she explained.

And then there’s the light they [greenouses] cast into the night.

That alone, compelling some of the more than 1,600 people who signed a petition of opposition started by Comber resident Jill Miner.

“Let's get the bylaws in place,” Miner said, “so that when and if they do come, we have the rules down that you have to have the screening so that the lights don't shine around the neighborhood and we've taken care of the water supply and the electrical supply and the roadways all the infrastructure that gets damaged because of these huge complexes.”

Miner presented her petition to Lakeshore Council at Tuesday’s meeting just before McKinlay brought forth her motion.

In the end, Councillors Steven Wilder and Len Janisse opposing the motion as written, with the rest of council voting to approve.

The moratorium on accepting applications to have commercial greenhouses is set to expire in March, at which point the work to bring them to Lakeshore could begin.

The voted-upon stance does however turn up the heat on the incoming council to get those aforementioned bylaws in place before March.

Miner said she’s okay with that.