A CITY councilor said the zoning ordinance of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (Clup) of Davao City is vital in preserving the vast area of agricultural land in the metropolis.
Councilor Marissa Salvador-Abella, chair for committee on agriculture, said there is a need to save the agricultural land of the city located in rural and upland areas of the second and third districts, which are continuously threatened by land conversion to human settlements.
She said the Clup must be very effective in reducing the occurrence of “spot zoning” especially among agricultural zones.
Before the term of the 16th City Council ended, it approved the ordinance “approving and adopting the zoning ordinance of Davao City for 2013-2022, incorporating as integral part thereof, Volume 1, which is the Clup, and volume 3, which is the sectoral studies."
The zoning ordinance also provides the no-reclassification policy within five years for all areas identified under general zone (agriculture, conservation, water resource, and non-tillage) and three years for sub-urban zone (residential, industrial, and commercial).
However, should property developers want to reclassify a zone that has been approved under the Clup, they would need at least 75 percent or 21 votes of the City Council.
Abella said the Clup puts an end to the reclassification of agricultural zone to industrial and commercial use.
“Agricultural lands must be strengthened. There should be certain areas for production. That’s food security,” she said in an interview in Los Amigos, Tugbok during its 9th Pantatan Festival on October 3.
Aside from that, she said the city must be efficient enough in agricultural approach toward farmers, who need effective lecture not only in producing agriculture products but also in marketing these.
She said farmers must be taught with mitigation and adaptation of the climate change and farm plan, among others.
Abella said she will look into the chances of proposing effectual resolutions and ordinances extending help and support to local farmers. (ANC)