The Mountain View County committee looking into the future of aggregate extraction in the municipality could make recommendations to county council following a meeting this week.
"I don't even want to guess exactly what the recommendations are going to be,î said committee chairman and Division 7 councillor Al Kemmere. "We have concerns about setbacks and how far gravel pits have to stay from residential and from multi-lot residential.î
The committee includes members of the public at large and several sitting councillors. It was formed last year to gather input and make recommendations regarding proposed amendments to the county's land use bylaw.
The committee is scheduled to meet for the first time in 2014 on Jan. 12.
Under the proposed amendments a new land use district titled "aggregate extraction/processing districtî would be created.
A public hearing regarding the amendments got underway in April and has been adjourned pending the committee's work.
Under the current bylaw No. 11/11, gravel pit and mining operations are considered discretionary uses in agriculture, heavy industry and airport districts under the definition of "natural resource extraction/processingî and are not subject to public hearing.
The amended bylaw would delete the "natural resource extraction/processingî definition and replace it with "aggregate extraction/processingî and "mineral resource extraction/processing.î
"By splitting up the current definition into two, the variety of uses under the current definition would then be better addressed and a new district to accommodate mining and extraction could then be created,î said director of planning John Rusling.
The aggregate extraction/processing district would accommodate the use for anything that is "minedî, which includes sands, gravel, peat, clay, shale and stone.
The mineral and resource extraction/processing would not be a new district but rather a new use for consideration under the agriculture, heavy industry and airport districts in the land use bylaw.
All proposed gravel pits and other uses defined under aggregate extraction/processing would be required to be appropriately re-designated prior to any development permit applications being accepted.
Existing gravel pits would not be required to designate until such time as their permit expires, is modified, amended or expanded.
As well, re-designation would not be required on borrow pits, as these are temporary, one-time use that is for a very specific county or provincial project that does not involve the use of typical gravel pit equipment such as crushers and conveyors.
Once the committee makes its presentation to council, a date for the continuation of the public hearing will be set, said Kemmere.
