Huron County council has approved a severance that has been contested in the past.
Senior Planner Craig Metzger explains the application was to sever a house from a farm.
He points out county policy allows a house to be severed from a farm if the owner also has another farm with a house, or if the farmland that was left could be sold to a farmer who owned another house. So the house was surplus to the property owner or the farmer who was going to buy the land, but that wasn't the case in this instance.
Metzger says after some discussion, council decided to approve the severance request. That severs the house from the farm with no requirement to sell the retained land to another farmer or require the property owner to own another farm with a house.
Metzger also points out there were no complaints when the Notice To Sever was circulated, but he does say this is the first time a house in this particular situation has been severed.
Several councillors stated that to deny the request would be to remove another possible home for people at a time when housing is at a premium.
