In what has shaped up to be the lengthiest public discussion on a rezoning application in recent history, city council faced 23 speakers during a third public hearing on two businesses' request to relocate to a nearby property on Otway Road.
In a vote of five to three, council passed a motion to amend the property for light industrial use so that CIF Construction and Timber West could move. Councillors Brian Skakun, Murry Krause and Jillian Merrick voted against the rezoning.
Coun. Frank Everitt was not present.
For almost 11 hours speakers either praised or disparaged the proposed plan.
"It almost seems like a battle between the here and now and the future vision," remarked Bench Drive resident Doug Dewar near the end of Wednesday's special public hearing.
Mayor Lyn Hall said this discussion was one of the more difficult he and council have faced, but the hearings have been an opportunity to have complete neighbourhood engagement.
"That's what I and council wanted to have happen. This truly is democracy; it truly does show what this community is about."
Proponents said the move - roughly 100 metres south of its existing spot - makes the impact negligible and the businesses are getting caught up in noise complaints that are better directed at other industries in the area.
Clint Dahl, a real estate representative, noted the main objections were around the fear of industrial creep and noise pollution. Groundwater protection of the aquifer, and home to the city's two main wells were also a key concern.
"First, they're already there. This is going to make them more efficient. Less traffic, less noise," said Dahl, stressing that the two will lie on the side of the railroad tracks away from the Nechako river. "It's not waterfront."
That convinced Coun. Terri McConnachie, who agreed their presence in the area made a difference.
"This rezoning application does not represent new industry," she said, before agreeing to a need for a neighbourhood plan on what has been an "emotionally charged" issue.
But Coun. Jillian Merrick made a distinction.
"The business have been there for a long time but even the zone they're in I would suggest is troublesome," she said. "The use is being added... so it is cumulative rather than neutral.
"This really is the tipping point piece," she said, whether the area will retain some environmental use or move towards becoming an industrial corridor.
The Official Community Plan long-term use of the area promotes a move away from industrial use, argued resident Jeff Northrop.
"It will take decades," said Northrop, but that's what the OCP, the bylaw which will be changed by Wednesday's vote, has outlined it will do.
"It's right there in front of you."
In explaining his vote against the application, Coun. Brian Skakun supported that argument.
"That document is over 10 years old," said Skakun, before saying industry should be in designated areas like the BCR Industrial Area and near the airport.
"We need to get the activity up there, we don't need the confrontation that's taken place."
But David McWalter, a consultant and engineer working for the two companies, said the OCP plan is an example of "living breathing documents that are always subject to change."
McWalter again praised the proponents' for donating a 38 acre-section of the land to city, which opponents previously called a bribe. Instead, that land will give residents some "certainty around land use"
"There is no more land that can be rezoned," he said. "That 38 acres to me is a catalyst of the city to embark on a future land use process."
The pace was fairly quick to start the third public hearing, but ground to a halt with the eleventh speakers - Adrian Wilson and William Alsip - who also first spoke to the issue at the April meeting for an hour and a half.
That seemed to ramp up the existing frustrations in the room, with Hall interrupting several times during the 40-minute presentation to push them along.
Up for the second time, resident Jim Burbee acknowledged the hours of discussion have covered the issue in "excruciating detail."
"It's far from the only option," he said, adding the business have applied for "inappropriate rezoning."
Rather, "what the resistance is about" is the cumulative impact of industrial development, he said.
Mcwalter praised Burbee for being reasonable but took issue with remarks made by presenters.
"CIF and Timber West are not the evil industrial corporations that they've been made out to be."
Robert Hillhouse, a speaker early in the night, said he sat on neither side of the debate.
"It pains me to see so much controversy in the community," said Hillhouse, before arguing for well-planned industrial land.
"My goal is for peace and unity in our city."
That sentiment seemed to take root in most councillors, regardless of their vote on the issue.
"There is no question that we need to be more proactive," said Hall about land-use issues, before he voted in favour of the rezoning application.
