Are you looking for a hobby farm in Richmond?
A lot between No. 5 Road and the CN railway, just south of Westminster Highway, with “mature blueberry bushes” is for sale for just under $250,000.
The lot is one of many similar lots in the area, located south of Richmond Nature Park, all assessed at about the same amount.
The real-estate ad notes the lot, which is just under one acre in size, is an “excellent holding property.”
This blueberry patch, however, has no road access and buildings are not allowed on it, the ad said. Furthermore, only soil-based farming is allowed on the property.
The lot is in the provincially controlled Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) and is zoned for agriculture. It also is considered an “environmentally sensitive area.”
The assessed value of the lot is $321,000 and property taxes in 2024 were $924.
Because there is no road access to the property, it has no street address nor any city services, explained city spokesperson Clay Adams.
Therefore, no buildings are allowed on the property as emergency vehicles wouldn’t be able to get in, he added.
The city would consider allowing access to the property via an “unopened road allowance,” but that would only be for farm use and would require a licensing agreement with the city, Adams said.
The owner would also have to obtain any necessary approvals from the Agricultural Land Commission, he added.
Richmond city Coun. Bill McNulty said he hopes this property and the surrounding lots will become productive farmland at some point, but that might happen “after my lifetime.”
It would, however, require city support, for example, with water supply and drainage.
He envisions that Richmond could become a “hub” for local food production as it was early in the 20th century when many immigrants from Asia had large vegetable farms.
“Every little food production – from gardens to full-scale farming… we need to continue to encourage that,” McNulty said.
McNulty said he and his wife have a large garden in their backyard, growing nine rows of corn, 32 tomato plants as well as cucumbers, beets, Swiss chard and other vegetables. He said they often don’t need to buy produce between June and November.
This is a “culture” of gardening and farming he’d like to see in Richmond, noting the satisfaction that comes from growing one’s food.
As for development on farmland, McNulty said he gets inquiries weekly from owners of ALR properties asking what they can do with their farmland.
He said people will always want to build mega-mansions on ALR properties.
In 2018, city council restricted the size of houses on the ALR to 400 square metres (about 4,300 square feet), which is smaller than the provincial guidelines of 500 square metres.
This was in response to a growing trend of mega-mansions, some as large as 15,000 square feet in size, being built on ALR properties.
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