A rural homeowner is hoping Powell River Regional District can make some noise on his behalf regarding a neighbouring industrial location.
A recent regional district’s planning committee was told about Guy Gentner, a Stittle Road resident, who wrote in a letter to the regional district that since a large welding and storage building was built three years ago in his neighbourhood, his quality and standard of life has been on a “steady decline.” He asked what the regional district could do with current regulations and bylaws to “curb the incessant noise, detrimental impacts to the environment and potential compromise to health and safety coming from this shop.”
Colin Palmer, Electoral Area C director and board chair at the time, said the business in questions fits with the official community plan (OCP), but there are difficulties.
“I think Mr. Gentner is right,” Palmer said. “It’s a hell of a problem for him. I can sit down with that owner and see if we can work out a better arrangement. If he’s not going to play ball, then it will be one of those classic examples where you bring in regulations for everybody because one person is abusing the neighbours. It’s not a good situation.”
Palmer said there are home-based businesses in Area C that do equivalent work to this but there is absolutely no problem to anybody.
Laura Roddan, manager of planning, said regional district staff had read Gentner’s letter and had looked into the matter.
“We are familiar with the property right-of-way because the business was pre-existing to the Area C bylaw,” she said. “In the OCP it is designated low-density residential so it was recognized as a home-based business. We knew at the time it was really a home-based industry and the OCP bylaw allows home-based industry on parcels larger than two hectares. With that larger size there is more of a buffer between the activity and the adjacent land uses. Because he is pre-existing the bylaw there is no zoning regulation.
“However, we do have policies in the OCP where we could encourage the property owner to plant hedging material and something to screen the noise—some kind of buffer.”
Planner Jason Gow said he’d made contact with the ministry of environment because a portion of Gentner’s letter pertains to potential pollution in the area.
“What I learned...is this is...not a large-scale welding industry,” Gow said. “It is a Ma and Pop operation, for lack of a better term. It is not regulated through the ministry of environment.”
Gow reported the ministry staff member said there is a caveat, and that is that industrial installation cannot cause pollution. “That’s where it gets a little bit grey,” he said. “Trying to define whether or not somebody is polluting is a little bit harder to prove.”
Gow said he was provided a phone number that Gentner could use if he is concerned about some of the chemicals outlined in his letter. “At the end of the day the ministry of environment typically does not get involved in situations like this,” Gow said.
Palmer was directed by the planning committee to speak with Gentner and his neighbour to see if something can be worked out.
