With Tempoary Use Permit approved, Prince Rupert Council hopes to see pace of development increase and landfill revenue remain in the city

With City Council anticipating more renovation work on downtown
properties such as the Empress above, a request for a temporary storage area
for materials from such work found approval on Monday night

Prince Rupert City Council has given the go ahead towards a plan for temporary storage of demolition materials at a property on the outskirts of the city near Miller Bay, a move that a few council members believe should help spur on some new development, as well as to ensure that once expanded the Prince Rupert Landfill site will be able to keep revenue streams in the city's coffers.

The prospect of using the land came with an application to Council from Monday's Council session, with Chris Buchan, one of the city's contract planners for iPlan providing for the  background to the request noting that the applicant wishes to use the area as temporary storage for materials from demolition in the area. The plan it seems to be some sort of holding area for later transfer to the city's landfill site once expanded.  

As part of the review for Council, Mr. Buchan noted that there was no asbestos included in the construction demolition materials. 

The location of the proposed temporary land use for storage site, on the
city's outskirts near Miller Bay
(from the City of PR Agenda for Monday)

As we noted in our preview of Monday, the land for the storage request is currently is vacant, and the plan is for the applicant to store construction materials as follows:

Plywood; Roofing shingles; Drywall; Insulation; and Carpet.

Towards some questions on the concept, Mayor Lee Brain inquired as to whether the Ministry of Environment needed to make any approvals and if there were any guarantees that the material will be transferred to the city landfill. 

iPlan's Rob Buchan handled that question observing that they were not aware of any need for approval, and noted that the applicant has indicated that all the waste will be stored in containers that are close-able. 

He added that there is no timeframe for transfer and once the city's new bylaws are introduced this temporary use permit would go away.

While seemingly in favour of the request, the Mayor did observe that his main concern is to ensure that the material does move to the city's landfill site once the expansion is complete and the temporary use period is completed.

Councillor Barry Cunningham added towards some further discussion, first calling it a great idea for the current period and noting how it could help get rid of some of the old buildings in town and spur on development.

Councillor Nick Adey, picked up the conversation by raising a question about some concerns over asbestos and sought out some guidance as to what is required in a declaration. 

Councllor Niesh offered up some help on that topic, first noting that proponents must declare if there is any at the permit of demolition process, Councillor Cunningham also provided some knowledge sharing on the nature of asbestos and what would be any risk factor and how what is proposed to be stored is non hazardous. 

He also noted that if the city doesn't provide for the option for later storage in the city's landfill it would be lost revenue for the city.

Chris Buchan reinforced that the proponent had advised the city that there were no hazardous materials in their demolition material.

To wind down the conversation, Councillor Adey then called for some additional language to put a condition in place that all the materials stored be suitable for later disposal at the landfill, Rob Buchan noted that the Temporary Use Permit could state that they cannot store hazardous materials in the storage materials.

That additional note was added as a friendly amendment to the motion. 

One other item was of note for Councillor Cunningham, who asked who would be notified about the land use if there is no public in the adjacent areas. 

Mr. Buchan noted that, when it comes to the process, the province would be advised as it is all Crown land in the surrounding area.

The report for Council is available from Monday's Council Agenda starting on page six.

You can review the discussion on the topic from the City's Video Archive starting at the ten minute mark.

For more notes related to Monday's Council session see our Council Timeline here. 

Further notes on land use and planning themes is available here.

While a wider overview of Council Discussion themes can be explored here.