A company site in Drumheller's Hy-Grade Industrial Park is now allowed to contain chemical drums/totes. Town Council adopted a by-law change allowing businesses to apply to use their light industrial land for uses other than originally pemitted, such as chemical storage.
Drumheller’s Town Council passed a change to the Town’s Land Use Bylaw following a public hearing held prior to the start of the Monday, January 12 regular meeting of Drumheller Town Council.
Platinum Chemical Solutions requested a change to the Town’s Land Use Bylaw to allow for the storage of chemicals on M-1 light industrial land. The Town’s M-2 medium industrial classification allows for the storage of chemicals, rather than the M-1. “There’s environmental concerns and there’s community concerns,” said deputy mayor Lisa Hansen-Zacharuk, “but at the end of the day, you already have precedent set in that area that is already allowing that to occur, unpermitted”.
“For my own self personally, I don’t believe that it would have been the right thing to do, to say no, one person cannot follow suit, but two others would be allowed to remain. And, if we had decided to stick with the M-1 rather than the M-2, what effect would that have had on the other two or possibly three (similar) businesses in that area?”
“I’m not willing to say that Drumheller’s not open for business, and I think we did the right thing. “
The deputy mayor added Council’s decision allows the Municipal Planning Commission to look at each request of this type on a case by case basis, rather than having a blanket classification for all chemical storage.
The Municipal Planning Commission and Palliser Regional Municipal Services both recommended that council reject the change to the land use.
“There’s very good advice that’s given in those (reports), but we have to take everything into consideration,” said Hansen-Zacharuk.
Two similar companies have been operating as M-2 on land for only light industrial use. The Town has no way of knowing how many other companies in Hy-Grade could be using their land for purposes other than their permit allows, as the land use hasn’t been policed and it hasn’t been enforced, Hansen-Zacharuk said.
“I’m hoping now it will be (reviewed) on a case by case basis, and they’ll be a little more proactive now than they have been in the past,”
She said at this point she is unclear of the review and enforcement method the Town would be taking to clear up the non-compliant cases.