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Tuesday, January 6, 2009
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Airport development plan scrutinized |
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Written by MARK NIELSEN
Citizen staff
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Thursday, 03 July 2008 |
IDL Projects crews have started paving the Prince George Airport runway expansion. The addition will be 3.5 km long and 44.5 m wide and will take two weeks to pave. (Citizen photo by David Mah)
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With just 370 hectares of such land now available around the city -- much of it in isolated pockets -- L&M Engineering planning director Heather Oland characterized the proposal as a chance to answer a big need for the city -- to supply enough light industrial land for the next 25 years.
"It does so for a number of reasons," she said. "Proximity to the airport, it's location outside of the bowl, the prevailing winds and its proximity to road and rail infrastructure."
She said it's expect much of the land will be used for distribution and logistics related facilities, aviation support and manufacturing and will provide the room to build the 5,000 to 10,000 square metre warehouses typical of airport logistics parks seen elsewhere in Canada and the U.S.
In all the area covers 1,180 hectares, but actual development would cover 726 ha. once road right of ways and so-called green areas are taken into account.
The plan is recommending buffer zones around fish-bearing streams and some tree stands and connectivity corridors for wildlife habitat, much of it along the fringes of the area.
As for air quality, it's also recommended that all roads, parking lots and storage areas be paved and that trucks be covered and vacuum or water-flushing systems, not street sweepers, be used to contain the particulate matter in the area.
A preliminary route has also been marked out for an arterial road connecting Highway 16 East to Highway 97 South that would start out as two lane but eventually be widened to four as the need grows. It also calls for a secondary route that would connect the airport to the BCR Industrial site.
A proposal for a first phase airport logistics park on 61 hectares of private land adjacent the airport's north end not subject to ALC jurisdiction is close to winning final approval from city council.
But most of the rest of the development hinges on the outcome of an application to remove about 680 ha. from the Agricultural Land Reserve. The northern panel of the Agricultural Land Commission has not yet issued a decision following a public meeting in late May that saw most people speak in favour of the exemption.
Questions during Thursday night's meeting were largely informational in nature although Gunn Road resident Heath Ceperley raised concerns about the impact on that nearby neighbourhood.
Public comments are being accepted by L&M Enginneering until July 11. The intention is to have a completed plan ready for city council's consideration in the fall. Copies of the draft plan and accompanying technical reports can be downloaded from www.lmengineering.bc.ca.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 September 2008 )
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