Athabasca County Council must decide whether to greenlight a rezoning that would accommodate a new asphalt plant three kilometres west of town on the south side of Highway 2.
At their meeting on Feb. 23, council deferred a decision on the rezoning in order to give administration a chance to provide a recommendation.
The rezoning that is being considered would see a lot which is currently General Industrial (M1), changed to Heavy Industrial (M2), in order to accommodate Knelsen Sand & Gravel Ltd., which wants to set up an AESCO/Madsen asphalt plant in the area.
A public meeting was held to give locals their say on the matter.
Knelson construction manager Darrell Quist was present at the meeting to discuss his reasons for wanting to do business in the county.
“We’ve found this to be an area that is not being served by this part of our industry,” he said.
Quist went on to note that his company had seen lots of demand for their driveway paving services and had been unable to accommodate all of the potential clients due to their lack of presence in the area.
“We’ve seen the opportunity, and that’s what it’s about. We’re a contractor.”
He described the planned location as being close enough to town to give them a “measure of security” as well as cutting down on transportation costs.
The parcel of land has been offered to them by local landowners.
“This piece of land (is) certainly size-suitable.”
He described the operation as being unique in that it does not use wet scrubber technology, which helps with pollution control.
All dust produced at the plant is vacuumed and goes back into the mix, according to Quist, and he said the other plants have not received odor complaints. He also noted the plant would not be operated on a day-to-day basis.
The new business is not without its opponents, however, as three letters were submitted to council from local landowners opposed to the rezoning and one, Vivian Elias, spoke at the meeting to voice her concerns.
“I strongly object to this proposed amendment,” she said.
“I’m concerned about my quality of life and how this amendment would negatively effect my property value. I’m not against development, but there is land that is already dedicated for heavy industrial.”
After both sides had their say, the public meeting was closed and council deliberated, ultimately deciding to direct planning staff to gather more information from the builder.
