Councillors unanimously passed the required zoning and official community plan amendments needed for Target Marine Hatcheries to process sturgeon for caviar during their July 4 Sechelt council meeting.
Although the decision was unanimous, Mayor John Henderson spoke to the contentious nature of the application, which has been approved and then legally challenged twice before.
"I'm aware that some of you in the community remain opposed to this application, but I call on you to accept council's decision. We've made the decision based on a diligent and comprehensive review of the information that's been provided and available to us. It really is time to move on," he said. "Let's all put this matter behind us. Let's let Target get on with their business and hopefully they will thrive and will help us as a community to be even more vibrant and more livable and a place where even more people want to live, work and play."
The only other councillors who spoke about the application during the meeting were Darnelda Siegers who noted it was time to move forward and Doug Hockley who said he believed the proposed operation was "good" and "safe."
"On May 7 of this year the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource operations indicated they have no, and I quote this 'has no concern' in regards to the Target Marine operations going ahead," Hockley said. "I just feel more than comfortable with this coming to third reading and to go ahead."
Batch plant
A Stockwell Enterprises Ltd. application to set up a concrete batch plant on their property off Allen Road was given the green light by council as well Wednesday night.
In a unanimous vote of the five councillors present, the required zoning and official community plan amendments were passed. Henderson and Coun. Mike Shanks excused themselves from the discussion and vote, stating a perceived bias.
The proposal gained some criticism at public hearing, which caused council to place a restrictive covenant on the operation.
"I'd like to commend our planning department and some of our councillors and the applicant for the work they've put in behind this to ensure that the concerns of the community have been addressed," Siegers said. "In the restrictive covenant I think we've addressed all the information and the concerns that the community brought forward."
The restrictive covenant has already been registered on title; it prohibits the production of asphalt and ensures the plant is screened from nearby residences with berms. It must also be a state of the art facility that uses a vacuum system to recycle dust back into the batch plant.
