Residents from Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore are rejoicing in their victory after learning that a project which they have long been fighting will no longer be go ahead in their area.
In March 2015, Kiann Management Ltd. applied to rezone a 14.7-acre property along Highway 7 to build a construction and demolition waste processing facility.
The application was met with stark criticism and opposition from the neighbouring communities.
On Monday, District 2 Coun. David Hendsbee informed residents that Lawrence Bellefontaine, owner of Kiann Management, had suspended his rezoning application.
“The matter is now in the hands of the applicant,” Hendsbee said. “He has three choices – either to drop it all together, put in an abeyance or to persevere and try to put the application forward to community council. I advised the applicant that it’s probably best with the information provided that this would probably go no further.”
Kiann Management Ltd. was presented with a HRM Planning Staff Advisory Letter on August 29 and was advised that the proposed site was not a suitable location for a the facility based on policy evaluation criteria and public input.
Hendsbee said he had to remain neutral throughout the process but now says that he believes staff made a “fair and prudent decision”, adding he had major concerns over traffic issues as a result of the site.
He said city’s real estate division is now looking at industrial parks within the municipality as potential sites for the processing facility.
“If that is possible he could substitute his application into another location. That’s why it’s on hold,” Hendsbee said .
As for residents along Highway 7, they are taking time to relish the news.
“It’s been a 16-month journey. To be honest this morning we weren’t expecting to receive this. It was shock, elation, a lot of emotion within the community,” said Mike Thomas, a member of the The Concerned Residents of Porters Lake, Lake Echo, Preston and Mineville Areas Coalition.
“At the end of the day we feel like we’ve been listened to and the Planning Department has addressed our concerns and basically agreed with us and said that these types of facilities do not belong in residential communities.”
Thomas said he and his wife Valerie had been working tirelessly as members of the coalition to bring forward the proper information to the city.
“I think as a community, as a whole we’ve just presented such a strong case, and a well educated case, that HRM planners basically did their jobs and ultimately agreed with us,” Thomas said.
“This victory is ultimately the communities’ victory. The community has galvanised over this issue and made their concerns known and at the end we won.”
Thomas said he hopes the city has learned a lesson when it comes to granting applications for these sorts of facilities.
“From Day One we said we didn’t want this in our backyard, but we don’t want it in anybody’s backyard. This decision really points out that HRM hopefully will identify proper industrial areas where these types of things can go so that communities will not be impacted.”
Linda Mosher said she and her husband Ken have lived in Lake Echo for more than 35 years. When the news broke that the facility would potentially be built just up the road from their home, they were faced with a difficult decision.
“My husband went out and measured it from our driveway to their driveway and it was .05 kilometres and as the crow flies it’s closer than that,” Mosher said. “I looked at my husband and said I will not live beside a C&D site.”
Mosher said she was worried she would be forced to sell their family home and risk losing everything. When her neighbours told her the news, she was elated.
“They kept saying we won, we won, and I had to cry. It’s hard to believe.”
Further down the road in Porters Lake, the MacDougall family is breathing a sigh of relief. They too considered moving if the proposed site came to fruition.
“I’ve done what I can as far as waving signs and putting them up in my yard,” Julie MacDougall said.
“It’s a big deal for our family because if the dump was to come, or the C&D processing site as it likes to be properly called, we would have been moving. It’s a really great victory for us. We’re happy to be able to stay.”
MacDougall said she was shocked to learn of the news on the coalition’s Facebook page.
“I had to read it twice and messaged a couple of them to double check. I just cried.”
On Monday, MacDougall held a celebration at her home along with her sons Jackson and Jake. She is now looking forward to going ahead with some renovations and finally settling into their dream home.