November 6, 2018

Property owners’ group battles against greenhouse expansion in Kingsville

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A group of homeowners in Kingsville staged a meeting Monday night where they told members of town council that greenhouse construction needs to stop before destroying the landscape of the quaint rural community.

“The biggest concern is deterioration of the town,” said Nathan Dyck, a resident of Road 3 West. “They keep popping up. People move to the country for the views and the peace. Greenhouses are not part of that.”

The homeowner is part of a new group known as Kingsville Property Owners. They hosted a meeting at Trinity United Church where they called for a freeze on any further greenhouse construction, limits on size and stricter zoning controls on locations.

“We would like regulations put in place that keep these on property somewhere where they don’t affect residential areas,” Dyck said.

“The bylaws now are from 30 or 40 years ago when these greenhouses were an acre or two acres — a lot smaller. Now they are 30 feet tall and cover hundreds of acres.”

It’s not enough for the town to solely enforce property setbacks, which Dyck said “don’t go far enough,” but the municipality needs to regard greenhouses of today “like a factory.”

“You would never build something like a factory next to peoples’ houses,” he said. “This needs to be treated the same way.”

Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos was happy to learn more about the residents’ concerns, but noted much of what is determined with agricultural land use falls under provincial jurisdiction.

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