A Clearview vegetable grower is urging Council to lower its building fees for greenhouses.
Zhang Jian Fan wants to build 40 plastic-covered greenhouses on his farm south of the Collingwood Regional Airport to grow “oriental vegetables” to sell at local and surrounding markets.
However, he feels Council’s latest proposed fee – $300 per structure – is too high.
Speaking on behalf of Fan at Council’s Monday, October 7 meeting, Rudy Ouwersloot of Niagara greenhouse manufacturer, Paul Boers, where Fan purchased the greenhouses, said, “the proposed reduction (from $437.76 per structure to $300) doesn’t really address the issue. It
will leave the Township wide open to an unfair fee schedule.”
Ouwersloot said the fee was unfair because it applies to any size of plastic greenhouse.
Fan’s greenhouses are 24 feet wide and 96 feet long. Based on the current system, if the greenhouses were larger but there were fewer of them, he would pay fewer fees.
At the Council meeting, Ward 3 Councillor, Brent Preston called the $300 flat fee “wildly unfair.”
“With climate change, we need to support this kind of operation in our communities.”
Ouwersloot suggested that a fair fee for Fan, based on the building permit fees of other municipalities such as Leamington, St. Thomas, Lincoln and Delhi, would be a total of $2,000.
Fan and Ouwersloot originally aproached the Township in August when they realized Fan would have to pay a total of $17,510.40 for the project. This is based on Clearview’s current fee of 19 cents per square foot of greenhouse.
In September, Council offered to reduce the fee to $300 per greenhouse.
Clearview’s building permit fees were calculated in 2008 by Tunnock Consulting Ltd. to reflect the “real costs of running the department,” said Scott McLeod, Clearview’s Chief Building Official. These costs include employees and their benefits, as well as support such as computers, data entry and education.
“In our mind this [$17,510.40] fee seems extremely high compared to the value of the investment. It is also out of line with other municipalities where greenhouses are more plentiful,” said Ouwersloot, in his original letter to Council on behalf of Fan, who is unable to speak fluently in English.
Ouwersloot says Fan was “caught off-guard” when he learned the amount of the building permit fees in Clearview. Ouwersloot offered to take the issue to Clearview for him. Fan purchased the greenhouses from Ouwersloot in September.
But McLeod said “[building fees are] very specific to each municipality. Others may choose to have permits supplemented by taxes.”
In addition, McLeod believes this is a “one-off” situation. “There has never been a larger scale greenhouse operation that I am aware of,” he said.
“It’s not the first time someone has requested reduced building permit fees, but it is the first time it’s relative to greenhouses.”
Ouwersloot believes that Council is working on a solution that will be more fair.
“You have to be on the same playing field as other jurisdictions or no one is going to build greenhouses in that area,” he said.
Ouwersloot said that Clearview’s harsh weather and high snowfall have interfered with greenhouse use in the past. However, he is now seeing a new wave of immigrants who want to grow vegetables north of Toronto in places like Clearview, where land is more affordable than in areas such as Niagara.
At its Monday, October 7 meeting, Council opened the floor to the public. However, Ouwersloot was the only person to speak.
In the meantime, Fan is prepared to pay the $17,510.40 fee so he can continue with his project.
Fan says using plastic greenhouses is the most environmentally sustainable way of growing food because it extends the growing season; protects crops from rain, wind or hail; reduces water and fertilizer consumption compared to outdoor growing; is not weather-dependent and has little effect on storm water management. As well, he says it creates less crop damage from insects and fewer weeds.