CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — After consulting legal counsel, Charlottetown city council has decided not to reconsider its vote last month in favour of an amendment that paves the way for another asphalt plant on Sherwood Road.
On June 21, council voted 5-4 at a special meeting in favour of an amendment to the zoning and development bylaw to permit an asphalt, aggregate and concrete plant as uses in the M2 zone.
There are two M2 zones in the city — in the West Royalty Industrial Park and on Sherwood Road.
Souris’ Chapman Brothers wants to build an asphalt plant across from Island Construction, the only existing asphalt plant in the city right now. the new plant would measure 280 feet in length by 25 feet wide, about the same size as the portable plant they used on the Charlottetown Airport runway project last year. The Chapmans say it would be located about 800 feet off the road and that it would be surrounded by trees, two concrete plants, an asphalt plant, A&S Scrap Metal, the city’s public works garage and a hill.
Residents and businesses in the area who oppose a second asphalt plant on the road held two protests over the decision and then held their own public meeting.
Mayor Philip Brown told the residents at that public meeting that he would ask council to reconsider its decision.
However, the city’s lawyer informed council that there are no grounds for a reconsideration.
The group also asked Brown for another public meeting on the matter because the last one was so poorly advertised. There has been no word from the city on that and no one from the city would speak on the record on this subject when asked by The Guardian.
Even though the reconsideration process seems to be a dead end for those opposed, residents also plan on appealing council’s decision to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC). The group had put that appeal on hold in the hopes council would reconsider its decision.
If IRAC doesn’t work out for the residents, their next option would be to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of P.E.I.
