Yilan Farmhouse Regulations Announced, Chen Jinde Goes on the Offensive Again! Farmhouse Zoning "Can Reject Central Guidance" - Council of Agriculture: If Farmers Break the Law, Local Governments Are Responsible
By Lai Yu-wei and Liu Yi-hsin, reporters for Upstream News
The Yilan farmhouse dispute, a major tug-of-war between the central and local governments, had temporarily come to a close, but today (the 23rd) the battle has flared up again! Facing the central Council of Agriculture's firm stance that "farmhouses must be located on roadside and edge-side land, and farmhouses and agricultural facilities must be reviewed separately under different regulations," Yilan Acting County Magistrate Chen Chin-te today again announced at a county affairs meeting the new version of the "Yilan County Directions for Reviewing Applications to Build Farmhouses on Agricultural Land" (hereinafter referred to as the "Farmhouse Directions"), stating that although the Directions follow the Council of Agriculture's administrative guidance requiring farmhouses to be built on roadside and edge-side land, "farmers can refuse the guidance and choose the most suitable configuration."
Facing the Yilan County Government's claim that roadside and edge-side placement of farmhouses is a major principle, while secretly retaining a proviso on configuration in the new Directions, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung said he "cannot accept it," but at this stage can only wait for the local procedures to run their course; only if they violate central regulations can further action be taken. Chen stressed that if this subsequently causes farmers' applications to break the law, the local government must bear responsibility; and at present the Council of Agriculture can only repeatedly urge all local governments to "implement in accordance with the central regulations."
Chen Chin-te Stirs Up the Battle Again; Yilan County Government: Farmers Can Refuse the Council of Agriculture's Guidance and Seek "Appropriate Configuration"
The Yilan farmhouse dispute has been deadlocked for a long time. The Yilan County Government originally promised to "fully accept the central government's opinion and not combine farmhouses and agricultural facilities into a single review regulation," and also to communicate with the Council of Agriculture before announcing the new Directions; those words are still ringing in our ears, and now Yilan Acting County Magistrate Chen Chin-te has announced the new version of the Farmhouse Directions at a county affairs meeting, again drawing a backlash from the Council of Agriculture.
What exactly is the proviso in the new version of the "Yilan County Directions for Reviewing Applications to Build Farmhouses on Agricultural Land"? And why did it prompt the Council of Agriculture to cry out that it "cannot accept it"? Article 5 of the new Directions explicitly states: "The configuration of farmhouse land shall, in accordance with the business plan format attached to the letter from the Executive Yuan Council of Agriculture, guide applicants to configure it in a rectangular shape on the side of the agricultural land boundary line and immediately adjacent to a road, or in other appropriate configurations that do not affect the agricultural production environment and rural development, and shall be limited to configuration within a range of 40 percent of the depth measured from the roadside boundary line."
"Farmhouses 'in principle' must still be on roadside and edge-side land," explained Yu Hsien-ting, Director of the Agriculture Department of the Yilan County Government. However, taking into account special terrain or other types of agriculture, as long as it does not affect the agricultural production environment and rural development, a farmhouse may choose an "appropriate configuration."
Yilan Acting County Magistrate Chen Chin-te said, however, that the Council of Agriculture's administrative guidance is not a regulatory order, official letter, or legal interpretation, so "farmers can refuse the guidance and choose the most suitable configuration." The county government is merely further stipulating that, on the premise of "not affecting the agricultural production environment" and "not affecting rural development," farmhouses must be configured within the range of roadside and 40% depth, to ensure that agricultural land does not become fragmented.
The Yilan County Government further explained that under the current situation where a farmhouse must be on roadside and edge-side land with only one possible configuration, it may not suit the production patterns of various types of farming, forestry, fishery, and animal husbandry; living on the roadside makes going in and out inconvenient and affects daily living functions; and building houses on the edge side and roadside can obstruct sight lines and affect traffic safety. In the future, when rural farm roads are widened, farmhouses on the roadside and edge side will face demolition.
The Yilan County Government repeatedly stressed that this version of the "Yilan County Directions for Reviewing Applications to Build Farmhouses on Agricultural Land" follows relevant central laws and the Council of Agriculture's guidance, and "from beginning to end there is no loosening of the rules."
Council of Agriculture: If Localities Cause Farmers' Applications to Break the Law, Local Governments Must Bear Responsibility
Even so, regarding the substantive content of the Yilan County Government's new version of the "Yilan County Directions for Reviewing Applications to Build Farmhouses on Agricultural Land," the central government still seems unable to fully accept it. Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung affirmed that the Yilan County Government is cooperating with central regulations and implementing roadside and edge-side placement of farmhouses; but regarding the proviso in the new Directions concerning farmhouse configuration "within a range of 40% depth from the roadside boundary line, and other configurations that do not affect the agricultural production environment," Chen stressed, "There is no such thing as 40% depth in configuration." If the local government wants to smuggle agricultural facilities into farmhouses, "the Council of Agriculture cannot accept it."
"A farmhouse is definitely 10%, it is written very clearly; an agricultural facility is also definitely 40%, that is also very clear." Chen Chi-chung repeatedly stressed that farmhouses and agricultural facilities must be "set out separately"; the Council of Agriculture calls on local governments to formulate local Directions in accordance with the central "Regulations for the Construction of Farmhouses on Agricultural Land" and the "Regulations for Reviewing Applications for Permitted Use of Agricultural Land for Agricultural Facilities," and "the content of the Directions cannot contradict the central regulations."
Facing the Yilan County Government's determination to proceed, since local Directions are not sent to the Council of Agriculture for approval and filing, the central government can currently only state that it must wait for the local procedures to run their course; only if there is a violation can the central government take further procedural steps. But once the local Directions complete the local procedures, and farmers apply in accordance with the local procedures, how should the Council of Agriculture handle it? Chen Chi-chung said that if this subsequently causes farmers' applications to break the law, the local government must bear responsibility; but at this stage, the Council of Agriculture can only repeatedly urge all local governments to "implement in accordance with the central regulations."
Central and Local Governments Out of Tune; Yilan County Government Insists on Taking Effect on February 1
Seeing the Council of Agriculture's firm stance and its repeated statements that "the central government cannot be contradicted," the Yilan County Government still vowed that the "Yilan County Directions for Reviewing Applications to Build Farmhouses on Agricultural Land" and the "Yilan County Directions for Reviewing Applications for Permitted Use of Agricultural Land for Agricultural Facilities" would formally take effect on February 1. Yu Hsien-ting said that the current version of the farmhouse review Directions has already been communicated with the central government.
The Yilan County Government also formulated penalties for non-compliant farmhouses. Today the Yilan County Government listed six types of major violations, including: use that violates regulations and endangers public safety; illegal construction in progress; land on which farmhouses cannot be built but where agricultural facilities are expanded for illegal construction and business operations are carried out; use for factories (excluding those that applied for temporary registration before June 2, 2015, under the Factory Management and Guidance Act); use for restaurants, markets, and convenience stores; and illegal construction of buildings with a projected area exceeding 100 square meters. These are listed as major violation cases and penalized by the Land Administration Department and the Construction Department under the Regional Plan Act and the Urban Planning Act.
The county government stated that newly built farmhouses will use the new Directions, while existing farmhouses will be comprehensively inspected every year from June 1 to August 31, with comprehensive aerial photography of all agricultural land in Yilan County, and classified and catalogued and handled by category according to the severity of the violation and the time of the violation. Cases of non-agricultural use before the 89th year of the Republic of China (2000) will be recorded and listed for control by the Agriculture Department; cases of non-agricultural use after the 89th year of the Republic of China (2000) will be guided under the new Directions and ordered to improve within a deadline; if they fail to improve within the deadline, they will then be penalized under the "Regional Plan Act" and the "Urban Planning Act."