Mission council approved a new industrial park on Monday night (April 15) that previously received pushback at a public hearing.
Council voted 6-1 to rezone a property on 33447 Dewdney Trunk Road at Cade Barr Street and amend the community plan to allow for an industrial park. Coun. Ken Herar was the opposing vote.
As part of the rezoning, council also approved the purchase of two acres of land for Fire Station 4 for the Cedar Valley at a price of $10.
“That’s $5 per acre. Not a bad deal from Cedar Coast investments as a condition of the rezoning and changing OCP designation of the neighbouring lands. So we passed a milestone that we’ve been trying to tackle for a number of years here to find a location for the fire hall up there,” Mission Mayor Paul Horn said.
Horn says council intends to move quickly on the next steps for a fire station.
In November 2022, council delayed a decision on the industrial park project after concerns about traffic at a public hearing.
An adoption report provided to council by city staff outlined how the developer met three conditions that needed to be met, largely concerning traffic.
“Offsite traffic safety improvements were negotiated with the developer which include substantial upgrades to laning of Dewdney Trunk Road at Stave Lake Street. These upgrades will introduce additional pavement surface, larger turn radius for multiple vehicle movements, and a westbound left turn lane with storage,” the report reads.
Coun. Jag Gill said he was happy to see the intersections were addressed and Coun. Danny Plecas was pleased with the improvements as well.
“I think the applicant has met all the requirements requested at third reading, particularly with the traffic update as well as … design features to the outside of the buildings [and] the streetscape,” Plecas said.
Horn said the developer played fair, undertook the Transportation Impact Assessment (TIA) based on the community’s remarks, and made the improvements.
“I think what has come out of that is that much of the community’s concerns about truck traffic and so forth — really the TIA gave us a much clearer focus, and showed us that the problem is going to be far, far less than the concerns raised,” Horn said.
Herar alleged the application and public hearing process for the industrial park are invalid and illegal because of procedure violations.
Herar said that he, along with councillors Angel Elias and Mark Davies, attended a “Council Cafe” session in January 2023 where they engaged in discussions with the public regarding the development.
“The public hearing was held and legally closed on November 21, 2022. As a council, we independently and collectively are not allowed to discuss, debate or receive new information from the public,” Herar said.
Horn said council is not in session during a “Council Cafe”.
“It’s the reason we only have three members of council — there’s no quorum. There is no provision under the Community Charter and Local Government Act to keep people from individually communicating with councillors after the close and there would be no way to regulate it,” Horn said.
Elias said she was upset by Herar’s comments and Davies echoed her.
“I take my job as a city councillor extremely serious and Council Cafe is a public event where we have several conversations about various topics concerning citizens of the community,” Elias said.
In a statement, the City of Mission said staff reviewed the timing and process of the application after Herar’s remarks.
“There was no indication from any of Councillors Herar, Davies or Elias who attended the Coffee with Council session that any new relevant information that would trigger a need for a new public hearing was received and the applicant met all of the conditions for adoption,” the statement said.
READ MORE: Mission delays industrial park decision after outcry from residents