Local councillors will consider at their next meeting later this month a bylaw approving the expansion of a gravel pit southwest of Moorefield.
Council received a report on the application, which was first submitted by a numbered company owned by Jim Willis over five years ago, at its last meeting in July.
County planner Mark Van Patter told Mapleton council the application to rezone almost 24 acres of land, from an agricultural use to extraction to permit the expansion of the small gravel pit, will implement the official plan amendment approved by county council in 2007.
The rezoning was deferred because the site – north of the intersection of Concession 4 and Sideroad 6 in former Maryborough township – was home to several endangered butternut trees.
“We have received a May 25, 2011 letter from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) indicating this has been addressed,” Van Patter said in his report.
He noted a public meeting was originally held in October 2006 and another meeting is not necessary. He added he has no further concerns about the proposal.
The “Willis pit,” as it is known, has operated for years at its current location and now extracts about 18,000 tonnes per year – a very small amount.
The future rate of extraction, should the zoning amendment be approved, will be about 30,000 tonnes per year, which is still a relatively small amount in the gravel industry. As a comparison, most large-scale pits in the county extract hundreds of thousands of tonnes annually.
Van Patter relayed that the MNR also no longer has any concerns or objections to the aggregate licence application for the site.
Council voted to receive the planner’s report and agreed to consider the zoning bylaw at its next council meeting on Aug. 16, at 7pm.
