Halls Lake resident Tim Kegel and his wife, Laura, say it’s always been their dream to operate a small hobby farm and be as self-sustaining as possible.
The couple are seeking to rezone their approximate six-acre property at 1572 Little Hawk Lake Rd. When they first went about adding animals six or seven years ago, Kegel said he thought his land was zoned Rural-Esception (RU), which allows hobby farms. He had between six and eight pigs per year, though stopped raising in 2023 after learning the property is zoned Shoreline Residential 2 (SR2).
“That lifestyle of living off the land really appeals to us. We have an apple orchard, some gardens… we don’t have pigs anymore, but we’re wanting to raise four or five per year, butcher them in the fall and then have the meat for winter,” Kegel said. “We also have about 10 chickens, which gives us way more eggs than we could ever eat, and honeybees.”
He says there were no issues with neighbours until 2023, after he clear cut a half-acre at the rear of his property, closest to the water, and used the leftover stumps to create a berm along his property line.
Kegel claims that after complaints over the berm went nowhere, his neighbours turned their attention to his pigs. Multiple people approached him about the smell in 2023, though he says he wasn’t doing anything differently from prior years when he had no complaints.
It’s been a whirlwind 24 months since – after investing upwards of $100,000 getting his hobby farm off the ground, Kegel has gone without his crown jewel, his pigs, for the past two years. He’s had representatives from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Agribusiness (OMAFRA), Algonquin Highlands township, and multiple environmental consultants out to look at his operation. All have given him a passing grade, he claims.
He’s submitted environmental impact and nutrient management studies to the township, while also sharing a report from an OMAFRA officer, Jon Harris, who inspected the site in November 2023 after the ministry received complaints from neighbours worried that manure created by the pigs may seep into Halls Lake.
“The setback from the area [the pigs were kept] to the lake is sufficient to meet any requirements and there are no indications of any impacts to the surface water… no corrective actions are required at this time,” Harris wrote.
Having lived on Halls Lake since 1988, when his family purchased the Shalom on the Lake property, Kegel said he’s just as concerned about the lake’s long-term health.
“We’re a big part of the community here – I grew up on this lake. We’re rebuilding our home here (following a 2023 fire) because I plan to live the rest of my life on the lake. I care about it just as much as everyone else.”
With concerns raised over the types of things RU designation allows, Kegel said he’s offered to include exemptions in his application prohibiting him or any future owner from developing an asphalt plant, quarry, or other non-conforming use at the site.
Kegel also wants to build a secondary residence on the property for his older children and keep shipping containers installed 12 years ago when he bought it – both are prohibited in SR2 zones.
“I think this has all been ludicrously overblown – we haven’t hidden anything, any time I wanted to do something new or different I reached out to the township and because both my and their records stated the land is RU, I’ve always been told I can get on with it,” Kegel said. “We’re not directly on the water, we have specialists telling us our hobby farm won’t impact the lake… hopefully common sense prevails.”
