There's already a line-up for a formal public hearing at city council Monday, as a large group of residents are rejecting the attempt by two companies to move a short distance from their current location along Otway Road.
Timber West Mill Construction and CIF Construction need the city to sign off on rezoning 12.2 hectares of a nearly 30-hectare property near the Nechako River for light industrial use.
The two are looking to relocate from their current leased home on the Rolling Mix property to the new spot, which is about 100 metres south on Otway Road.
"Unsightly industrial sprawl is not something we want to see on the way to Otway ski center," said a presentation from the outraged residents, that notes riverfront properties directly across the proposed lot are only about 260 to 330 metres away.
A Powerpoint presentation includes a list of names and addresses for 186 residents opposed to the change, many living on Riverview Road, Benh Drive, Riverdale Crescent, Rosia Road and Toombs Drive.
The residents brought a list of seven reasons for their opposition, including fears of noise and other pollution from manufacturing operations, irreversible loss of a river valley resource and loss of property value for homeowners.
The companies have proposed "a low impact development with low noise, very low traffic volumes, limited zoned area and a fully landscaped berm for aesthetics and noise attenuation," said a report by L & M Engineering Ltd., which has submitted the application on behalf of the two companies.
The homeowners also said there is potential contamination of a vital Groundwater Protection Area, referencing a recent report from R. Radloff & Associate that said the Nechako Aquifer water supply is "highly vulnerable to contamination from surface sources."
But L&M said the jobsites will move further away from Fish Trap Island, where the city's well lies.
The companies have also been mobilizing, too. A package for council shows 341 letters of support for the application, including businesses that work with the two, past and present employees and some residents.
"While we do not believe that these opinions reduce the importance of the opinions of those in opposition to this project, we hope that they will shed some light on the importance of these companies to the greater community of Prince George," said Ashley Elliott, community planner with L & M Engineering.
Many of the 68 letters from businesses are standardized and signed by individual companies. Same, too, with the employees.
The residents signed a standardized letter that said "we believe the construction of the berm and new workshops will reduce the noise... and the applicants are working in good faith to protect surrounding property owners from the impacts of future developers."
One resident customized his own letter.
"I think that the neighbours across the river should be careful of standing up for their quality of life without standing in the way of progress," wrote Tom Whyte, before noting that the applicants "aren't generators of noise and I appreciate that they would be moving their operations indoors."
Timber West fabricates specialty metal products, Elliot's presentation said, and would have a maximum of 15 workers. At the moment, most of the work is outdoors, but the company has said it can be moved inside. CIF is a concrete contractor specializing in project management and quality control. It would be storing its equipment that it uses for off-site jobs and would do "light repairs" indoors. It typically has between four and six employees, but can have a maximum of 10 workers.
L&M's framing of the relocation and nature of the work is "inaccurate and deceptive," said the residents' report.
"Timber West Construction is trying to frame itself as a small operation that is light industrial."
Instead, the residents view its relocation to 6161 Otway Rd. as a "major expansion," and a shift in a landscape some have fought to preserve since the 1990s.
"For decades now residents in the area have attempted to protect one of the most valuable assets of our city - its beautiful river valleys," wrote Alice Smit, who called developments along Otaway Road "abominable."
In 1992, area homeowners helped defeat, at third reading, an application for soil removal designation. Then in 1993, residents packed the North Nechako School and had the designations light industrial and rural resource removed from the property description.
Another resident, Sheila Fleming, said turning the river corridor into more industrial development "shows a lack of vision."
City council passed first and second reading in January. On Monday it moves to the public hearing stage.
Correction: An earlier version of this article said the companies were moving "to the waterfront" along Otway Road. The relocation would be a lateral move from their current location, on the same side of the road as their presently leased property
