Chilliwack looks to stop mansions from taking up valuable farm land

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CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) – With more urbanites considering buying properties deep into the Fraser Valley — Chilliwack City Council is looking to stop people from building big houses on valuable farm land.

City Councillor, Farmer and Realtor Chris Kloot says because of Chilliwack’s relative affordability within the Lower Mainland, more people with more money are moving there and building large homes on agricultural land.

“Large homes have been built but they’re right in the centre of a 10 or 20 acre parcel with a driveway right down the middle and that obviously limits the actual use of the agricultural land around it and the viability of it.”

Council is considering a bylaw revision and Kloot says there will be lots of discussion around it to make sure it’s the right set of rules.

He says the bylaw would most likely regulate the location of the homes, not the size.

“We need to be proactive on this to make sure the land is being used for [farming] rather than large homes that are really chopping up the land.”

Kloot thinks about 30 per cent of buyers in Chilliwack are coming from other cities.

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