Viability Strategy Report

Overview of The Agricultural Viability Strategy
The RAVS consists of three distinct levels of planning strategies:

City-Wide Management Plan This section of the AVS contains the bulk of the recommendations which are general in nature and apply throughout the City's agricultural areas.

Nodal Management Plans within the ALR The AVS recognizes that certain areas of the ALR face specific issues that are unique to those areas. Nodal Management Plans address this by reviewing area-specific issues and policies.

Implementation Strategy This section of the AVS identifies some of the priorities for implementation as well as a monitoring process.

City-Wide Management Plan
City-wide management strategies appear in the following categories:

1. Agricultural Decision Making Strategy policies to ensure that decisions made on a City-wide basis consider the impacts on agriculture and that decisions are made in a consultative manner with farmers.
2. Services and Infrastructure Strategy policies to address the needs of the agricultural sector with respect to water, drainage, sewerage and transportation management.
3. City Policies and Bylaws Strategy policies to ensure that City policies and bylaws support the viability of the agricultural sector.
4. Non-Farm Uses and Parks and Recreation Strategy policies to address the integration of non-farm uses and parks and recreation into agricultural areas where appropriate.
5. Agricultural Edge Strategy policies for areas along the rural-urban edge to minimize potential conflicts between farm and non-farm neighbours.
6. A Strategy for Agricultural with respect to the Environment and Environmentally Sensitive Areas policies for consideration of environmental issues so that healthy land, water and air can be maintained over the long term to help sustain agriculture.
7. Public Education and Awareness Strategy policies to help the general public better understand the agriculture industry in their community
8. Economic Growth and Diversification Strategy policies to help the agricultural industry adapt and respond to changing times in order to remain competitive over the long term.

Each of the above strategies contains a number of policy recommendations that can be implemented over time to create support for and consideration of the needs of agriculture.

Nodal Management Plan
In addition to City-wide policies outlined in the previous section, the AVS also includes an Agricultural Nodal Management Plan. The City's agricultural areas are divided into 8 sub-areas (nodes) that share common characteristics or issues.

The Nodal Management Plan identifies policies and recommendations that respond to area-specific issues.

Implementation Strategy
The Implementation Strategy identifies the more significant recommendations for implementation in the short term. The strategy outlines implementation details, potential partners and expected results for these higher priority recommendations. A monitoring process is also suggested to review progress in implementation and to determine effectiveness of the AVS and its impact on agricultural viability.

For a copy of the full report, please click on the PDF link near the top of the page. For further information about the AVS, please contact:

Policy Planning
Planning and Development Division
6911 No. 3 Road
Richmond, BC  V6Y 2C1

Phone: 604-276-4188
Fax: 604-276-4052
Email: CommunityPlanning@richmond.ca