Morden Times — A small number of cattle were grazing the land just south of the railway tracks cutting through Morden last week.
With a light smattering of freshly fallen snow all around, it created a serene scene - maybe symbolic of the peace reached between the town and the cattle’s owners.  That peace was reached when Warren McKennitt found other locations for most of the cattle that were at the centre of a dispute involving the town and nearby residents.

In a statement last week, town officials said they were pleased McKennitt did not have to bring in as many as 250 cattle for the winter on to the McKennitt land within town limits.  “This is a good example of how the town, the community and the farmers are able to work together when all groups are willing to compromise,” said Mayor John Wiens.  “Though the current situation may not be precisely what the town would prefer, it will compromise by stating it has no further issues at this time.”

The ‘mad cow’ crisis had made it necessary for McKennitt to consider the farm on the south side of Morden for housing surplus cattle for the winter. The town and McKennitt, however, had not been seeing eye to eye on just what he could and couldn’t do legally. Both McKennitt and his sister Loreena maintained the “grandfathering” clause meant it existed as a lawful non-conforming use of property going back to before the zoning bylaw took effect, and long before adjacent land was zoned and developed as residential property.

The Town of Morden had taken the position it wouldn’t conform under the town zoning bylaw. It had disputed to what degree it had operated as a cattle farm and saw this more like an expansion that required explicit approval.  Last week, the McKennitts said they were pleased to be able to settle the dispute in an amicable way.  “Out of respect for the town and our neighbours ... I worked hard to find other alternative facilities,” Warren McKennitt said in a statement last week. “We are grateful to the operators of these facilities who have provided us with assistance.”

As well, Loreena covered the cost - estimated to be around $17,000 - to have an additional fence erected as a barrier between the land and adjacent residential properties.  “I don’t think there’s anything worse than having bad relations with friends and neighbours,” she told the Times.