A big change announced on Tuesday for farmers wanting to host events like weddings on Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land.
New regulations took effect on Tuesday about what constitutes agri-tourism for all farms in the province.
It comes after several brides had to relocate their weddings last fall due to a crackdown by the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC).
In the Okanagan, businesses like Bottega were forced to cancel already booked weddings.
Now the province says farmers will be allowed to supplement their incomes by hosting tours, festivals and weddings on ALR land, as long as the events are kept on a small scale.
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“Specifically the conditions are number one you have to have farm class, you have to be a farmer. Number two, no new permanent facilities. Number three parking has to be on the farm, without any interference with farm activities, so no more parking on the roads. Number four, 150 people maximum at an event. Number five, 10 or fewer events per year and number six, the event can’t go on for 24 hours or more,” Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick said at press conference.
Letnick told Global News the change has the potential to expand the agri-tourism industry in the valley as it’ll be easier for more farmers to capitalize on this kind of tourism.
WATCH BELOW: B.C. farmers fear ALR ban on holding weddings on their property
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