Teeswater Concrete appeared before a second council last week, asking for a zoning amendment for a proposed expansion.
Earlier last week, the company asked for a zoning amendment from Wellington North Council for a proposed ready-mix plan in Arthur. This time, they were in Minto to ask for a zoning amendment for a gravel pit outside of Palmerston. The subject property is on Third Line between Wellington Road 5 and Highway 23.
Planning Consultant Ron Davidson explained there are berms along the property that will limit the noise and dust for neighbouring properties.
“A forested portion of the subject property, which is located to the south, provides for added buffer from the urban area of Palmerston, ” said Davidson. “It is worth noting that a berm of at least 15 metres in height follows the easterly limit of the pit and hides all operations from the public trail.”
Jessie Bramhill’s lives on the property that abuts the subject property and she says that berm isn’t big enough.
“It doesn’t extend that far back,” Bramhill told council. “It might extend behind the shop but I think if you stand in [my] backyard you can see straight across so there needs to be a tree line or berm created in that area.”
Davidson explained they were aware that one of the neighbouring homes was visible from the pit and Teeswater Concrete would be taking steps to correct the issue.
“The rooftop of the house located about 260 meters west from the licensed area can be seen,” said Davidson. “To provide for an even more effective buffer for those neighbours Teeswater Concrete Ltd. will be establishing a higher berm in that particular area and that will be accomplished by simply shifting some of the material of the existing berm to make for a more uniform and higher screen.”
Sound expert with RWDI, Slavi Grozev, explained their analysis of the site included modelling that predicted the noise level if all operations were happening at maximum capacity all at once and determined the volume would not exceed 43 decibels at the nearest house.
“That’s about a quiet library,” Grozev explained. “The projected sound levels, with what the [Ministry of the Environment] has already approved at the Hanover plant, would be about a conversation volume.”
Staff will take all the comments into consideration before bringing a recommendation back to council at a future date.
