Tempers flared at last night’s meeting of common council over a decision to rezone part of Latimore Lake Road as a gravel quarry. The application from Fundy Bay Sand & Gravel being slated by some residents as dangerous to property values, air, water and road quality.
Odette McGrath tells CHSJ News the decision to let the quarry be built–albeit, provided some recommendations are followed–is a travesty. She described PlanSJ as a cover for treating taxpayers in rural communities as second-class citizens, saying it’s unfair to categorize places like Latimore Lake as merely “resource areas.”
Businessman Paul Kasdan spoke on behalf of Fundy Bay Sand and Gravel owner Steven Langille. He argued that noise is simply a fact of life in a city, especially one that needs jobs as desperately as Saint John.
The rezoning would create 10-20 jobs, plus an investment to rehabilitate the depleted pit that already exists. In order for the rezoning to be finalized Fundy Bay Sand and Gravel needs to work with the city on a concrete plan to accomplish that end, keep the trees as a noise and dust buffer, and move the crusher farther from houses.
