B.C. Man Could Get Jail for Selling Home-Grown Veggies

When Dirk Becker began converting his 2.5 acre lot from a gravel pit into a thriving but small-scale organic farm, he had no idea he would face the wrath of Town Hall.
B.C. Man Could Get Jail for Selling Home-Grown Veggies
Dirk Becker on Compassion Farm. The District of Lantzville has threatened Becker with legal action for growing and selling food in violation of a bylaw. (Nicole Shaw)
Joan Delaney
9/18/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/BC-Farm-2007+009.jpg" alt="Dirk Becker on Compassion Farm. The District of Lantzville has threatened Becker with legal action for growing and selling food in violation of a bylaw. (Nicole Shaw)" title="Dirk Becker on Compassion Farm. The District of Lantzville has threatened Becker with legal action for growing and selling food in violation of a bylaw. (Nicole Shaw)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1797605"/></a>
Dirk Becker on Compassion Farm. The District of Lantzville has threatened Becker with legal action for growing and selling food in violation of a bylaw. (Nicole Shaw)
When Dirk Becker began converting his 2.5-acre lot from a gravel pit into a thriving but small-scale organic farm, he had no idea he would face the wrath of Town Hall.

The previous owner of Becker’s property in the town of Lantzville, British Columbia, had sold the soil, sand, and gravel, and by scraping the land bare had lowered the level of the property by about four feet.

Becker built the soil back up, planted a few fruit trees, then gradually expanded to growing a variety of fruit and vegetables which he sells locally at a farmers’ market that he established.

The problem is that even though Becker’s lot, called Compassion Farm, is in a semi-rural area with forest across the street and acreage on either side, it is zoned residential, and by selling his produce he is violating a bylaw.

Acting on a complaint from a disgruntled neighbour about the smell of manure, the District of Lantzville sent a letter asking Becker to “cease all agricultural activity” last November.

But Becker, a well-known advocate for local food production, failed to comply, and now the district is threatening legal action.

Becker and his wife, Nicole Shaw, are standing their ground because they want the business bylaw changed to include agriculture so that others can grow and sell food legally.

“We need to move urban agriculture from a place of needing permission to be allowed to do it, to a place of it being the right of every citizen in Canada to grow food virtually anywhere, including for sale,” Becker says.

Both he and Shaw are working to “create a template” similar to what San Francisco has that goes beyond simply allowing urban agriculture, not only in Lantzville but across the country, he says.

“San Francisco is the cutting edge—even beyond Vancouver—on having created a bylaw that not just allows, but encourages, supports, and protects urban agriculture.”

The case has attracted media attention in Canada and the U.S. and much local support for Becker’s stance, with a few rallies—one of which drew around 100 people—and a door-to-door petition that gathered 300 signatures in a matter of days.

Risk to Well Water

Lantzville mayor Colin Haime says that although some media reports and Becker’s supporters have accused town council of mounting an attack against urban farming and sustainability, that’s not the case.

“With regards to Mr. Becker pushing for the bylaw to be changed, there are concerns with respect to odour, there’s concern with respect to noise, there’s concern with respect to the use of manure in areas where people are on their own wells,” he says.

“In theory if somebody brings on raw manure, be it on that property or on any residential property for the purposes of agriculture, it brings up the potential contamination of wells. And what we offered to Mr. Becker initially was a proposal where he could apply for either a temporary-use permit or he could apply for rezoning, and then from that standpoint conditions could be put into place to protect those wells. He refused to apply.”

As for the outpouring of support for Becker and Shaw, Haime says many “food supporters … view the fact that they’re growing food as being a right that trumps the rights of others.”

Becker rejects the assumption that there’s any risk to the water, arguing that his 5-metre-deep well—“which we drink from every day, year-round”—is relatively shallow compared to those of his neighbours that are 60–120 metres deep.

“Immediately behind us we have a golf course constantly spreading fertilizers and other such chemicals which go into the Lantzville water aquifer,” he says, adding that the neighbour who made the complaint uses chemicals including the herbicide Roundup.

“We use horse manure, compost, and compost tea. So to focus all this attention on one farmer with a bit of very mild, sweet-smelling horse manure seems a bit counter-intuitive.”

Bylaw Changes

Haime says amendments to the bylaw are currently in the works that would allow the growing of produce for personal use and for sale, but there are certain limitations, including around creating compost onsite—something central to Becker’s method of growing food.

The amendments have gone through second reading and the draft is now being reviewed by a committee. After third reading it will go to public hearing.

Meanwhile, Becker says if the case goes to court and a judge rules that he is in contempt for not obeying the order to stop growing food, he could be sentenced to six months in jail.

An Aug. 29 letter from Becker’s lawyer, William Andrews, to mayor and council said the issue is one of a dispute between neighbours, and questions why “the district has gotten itself into a situation of using the powers of local government on behalf of one neighbour against the other. With respect, I don’t think that is appropriate.”

Andrews asked that the threat of legal action be withdrawn. “A big expensive court battle about the interpretation of bylaws will not solve anyone’s manure smell complaint,” he wrote.

Becker says he’s surprised that things have deteriorated to the point of legal action.

“We certainly didn’t expect this to ever happen, because we have been farming for five years, and for the last couple years it’s been almost our only source of income. We also sell rain barrels—one of the other things that council said we had to stop doing.”

He notes that the previous owner had heavy machinery and a soil screener, and ran a business selling the soil, sand, and gravel on the property “and got away with it.”

“It’s ironic that he did not get in trouble for destroying the land, but we’re getting in trouble for healing the land.”

 

Joan Delaney is Senior Editor of the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times based in Toronto. She has been with The Epoch Times in various roles since 2004.
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