A campground in the Upper Squamish Valley is now also the site of commercial garlic production.
The Abolfathi's Squamish Valley Campground application was previously before the board in May, when the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District asked the proponent to put forward a plan for agricultural use on the land. The application was the result of the owners moving the 50-unit campground on the property from being near the road to being closer to the Squamish River, where an RV campground already exists. The spring application also requests permission to build non-permanent cabins on the site. In 2017, the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) told the owners to reapply for a non-farm use permit for the new campground location.
At the Oct. 23 meeting, SLRD staff said a new report shows "they have, in fact, put the land into pretty significant agricultural production. They've got 10,000 garlic plants there; they're proposing 30,000 in 2020. They've also got tomatoes and other vegetables, so they are definitely farming the land."
The SLRD board moved to support the application and to forward it to ALC.
