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Asphalt plant to be relocated before next summer

Contentious council debate over putting timeframe on operator
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The long-operating asphalt plant, which has been making Whistler's blacktop for two decades without interruption, has been given its marching orders.

It has to find a new home, with the help of municipal staff, before the spring, with a deadline of June 1, 2010.

Council made its decision Tuesday night at a special council meeting in the wake of outcry from future residents about the operation of the plant in proximity to the $161 million athletes' village. That village is to be transformed into the Cheakamus Crossing neighbourhood after the 2010 Olympics.

"I've set the date because I don't believe there should be a summer of emissions and smoke and smog in one of our most valuable assets," said Councillor Ted Milner.

More than 50 future residents of the neighbourhood attended the meeting and council's decision, which passed in a contentious four to two vote, was met with a mixture of optimism and relief.

"I was extremely happy to hear how positive the councillors were about shutting down the plant, about moving it and about protecting the health of the neighbourhood, and (to hear) their honest concerns and their expressions as to how this should have been fixed years ago and had not been fixed," said Natasha Frémont, after the meeting.

It gives her comfort, she added, to move ahead with the second deposit on her new home (three per cent of the price) by the extended date of Dec. 8.

"As long as it's on paper saying it's going to be gone by June 1, I think that's more than enough to satisfy at least myself and hopefully everyone else," said Frémont.

Therein lies the crux of the issue for Mayor Ken Melamed and Councillor Chris Quinlan, who voted against the June 1, 2010 deadline.

"Great goal," Quinlan said to Milner of his deadline. "Love to see it happen. What are you going to do when we can't deliver June 1?"

They are concerned about meeting a deadline that may not be realistic, given the fact that the asphalt plant has been operating in the valley on Crown land for 20 years with permits from the province.

Council's direction to move the plant by June 1 appeared to weigh heavily on the mayor's shoulders as he left the meeting.

His concern, as he told the crowd Tuesday night is: "I do not like giving people the impression of making promises that I can't keep."

While it's true that Alpine Paving/Whistler Aggregates doesn't have, and has never had, official zoning from the municipality to operate an asphalt plant, it has been operating there with the municipality's unofficial consent for two decades.

"The use has been sanctioned to a degree," explained the mayor in response to questions from the residents.

"They are operating not within the zoning but they have a right to operate."

That's why the mayor and Quinlan pushed to pass staff's recommendation of granting the company a temporary use permit. Those permits can run for up to two years, with a potential two year extension at council's discretion. That would give the municipality time to work with all the various partners involved in this situation, including the province, which has given the company a permit for its asphalt operations until 2017.

What the temporary use permit does is to send a clear message to the operator that his time is running out.

"(The temporary use permit) puts a noose around the neck of the beast," said Quinlan.

The owner of Alpine Paving/Whistler Aggregates was not available for comment this week.

Both Quinlan and Melamed explained that they want the plant moved just as much as the residents.

"It's not certain that we can actually achieve a shutdown of the plant in the timeframe we desire," said the mayor. "It might not be possible to stop the operations of the plant without repercussions that you might regret, that we all might regret."

The financial repercussions to the municipality of moving the plant are not clear at this point and they were not discussed at Tuesday's meeting.

And while municipal zoning trumps the provincial permit, the issue may not be as clear cut as that.

"The issue here is the history and the exposure to the municipality," said Administrator Bill Barratt.

He would not elaborate further on that comment after the meeting, saying it was something that needed to be discussed with council in a closed-door meeting.

Despite the mayor's and Councillor Quinlan's concerns of setting a firm date, the majority of council pushed ahead with the June 1 deadline after tense debate.

"The bureaucratic hurdles are astounding," said Milner.

"All this pussyfooting around for two years achieves nothing."

Among his concerns was that if the plant were allowed to operate for another two years, with a possible two-year extension, it would damage the property values in the neighbourhood and could affect the sale of the market lots there. The municipality needs to sell those lots to close the funding gap on the multi-million dollar project.

"That's everyone that's on the hook for that money," echoed Councillor Ralph Forsyth.

He also pointed out that the municipality held all the cards.

"We're in the driver's seat as far as the licensing," said Forsyth.

Councillor Eckhard Zeidler expressed his concern that the situation got to this point in the first place. "I'm troubled that we're here tonight," he said.

This situation was on the radar screen three years ago and people knew about it but nothing effectively was done about it, he said. The operator was asked to move as recently as September but wasn't interested in moving.

The mayor, in response to questions about how the municipality arrived at this place, tried to keep the meeting on course with the acknowledgement that in hindsight they wished they had done things differently.

"Do we wish we had done it differently? Absolutely," he said.

"We did ask ourselves (about the proximity of the asphalt plant) and the answer was: we were prepared to go ahead with the project."

At this point, he said, all are determined to make the move happen.

"(Cheakamus Crossing) is going to be one of the finest neighbourhoods in Whistler," he said. "It will carry on without the presence of an asphalt plant next to it."

Councillor Tom Thomson asked council for more time to consider the issue, particularly as more information will likely become available at Thursday's open house, from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Millar Room in Myrtle Philip Community School.

But in the end Thomson too voted for the June 1 deadline.

When asked after the meeting how she felt about a group of residents rallying together, making council sit up and notice and forcing change, Frémont said it shows that everyone has a voice, no matter how small you are.

She added: "It proves exactly why we live in this community, why we love this community, and hopefully it continues to be our dream place because it always has (been) in the past."