A local water bottling operation cleared another milestone with the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George board giving them to go-ahead.
An application from Soul D'Aqua Water Corporation to rezone the site containing the former McLeod Lake elementary school and change the Crooked River-Parsnip official community plan to allow a light industrial use passed third reading Thursday.
"From a land use perspective, the proposed light industrial/manufacturing use may have little impact tot he surrounding lands," said a report from regional district planner Heather Meier.
The amendments will change the property's OCP designation to light industrial and switch it to a zoning that allows manufacturing on a site specific basis.
The company plans to use the former school as the bottling facility for water drawn from the Bergenstrom spring, located at Honeymoon Creek.
According to the proponents, the water will be trucked in and not drawn from the existing well, expect for sanitary use. Harmful chemicals are not planned for use at the site and nothing of that sort is expected to be discarded.
The water licence on the spring allows the company to extract up to 20,000 gallons of water per day, which the applicant said is "more than sufficient" for the projected output of 10 to 15 gallons per day.
As for traffic, approximately three or four daily shipments in and out of the plant are expected. However, the proponents did agree to register a restrictive covenant on the land to address highway and safety concerns, limiting the use of the property so as not to trigger any necessary highway improvements.
"Soul D'Aqua Water Corporation is looking forward to becoming a strong supporter of the community and to working in concert with the community in order to ensure a long-term sustainable development of this initiative," said a statement from corporation director Mike Ivanof. The McLeod Lake and Mackenize communities are expected to be the main pools for labour for the plant. Fifteen to 20 jobs are expected to be created.
"We are confident that absolutely no possibility of environmental impact will be engendered from the activities carried out by the Soul D'Aqua Water Corporation, and that at the same time the company will become a respected pillar of community support."
