Lucasville zoning rules should be reviewed, councillor says after horse farm dispute

The zoning rules in Lucasville need to be reviewed, a Halifax councillor says after a recent dispute about a horse farm in the suburban community.

"The land-use bylaws are more than 30 years old and completely out of date," said Lisa Blackburn."Lucasville is now a residential community."

Some local residents are worried that more agricultural operationswill spring up in theareaafter a recent decision related toMemento Farm.

"You could look out your back door and all of a sudden there could be four or five horse farms," said local businessman Brian Murray."There's a big need for the boarding of horses."

Murray represented a group of Lucasville neighboursduringa July hearing of the Farm Practices Review Board, outliningtheir complaints about odours,run-off and rodents from Memento Farm's manure pile.

But the ReviewBoard recently ruledthat Memento Farm also known as Goldring Stablesis following"normal" farm practices.

The land is zoned multi-use (MU1),which allows for agriculture.

Memento Farm was established in 2002, and is home to35 horses on a 4.2-hectaresite. There are no rules that cap the number of animals to the size of the property.

Theconflictfirstcame to light in 2014, whenthe farm's owners wanted to expand one of their buildings.That prompted neighbours to step forward with a long list of grievances, though the owners said at the time they never personally received any complaints.

"The province could work with the city and define what intensive agriculture means for HRM," said Murray."In this case it's horses, but it could be cows, it could be pigs."

Local MLABen Jessomesaidhe sympathizes withthe concerns of the residents and acknowledges that mixed-use properties can create problems. "But this is predominantly a municipal issue," he said.

Lucasville residents who'd like to get the ball rolling on zoning changes will have a chance to talk to planners at acommunity meeting planned forOct. 12at the Lucasville CommunityCentre, Blackburnsaid.