Saint John council backs restricting future scrapyards to heavy industry zones

Nipun Tiwari · CBC News

· Posted: May 06, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Saint John assembly is moving up with restrictions connected the determination of aboriginal scrapyards truthful that metallic recycling operations won't beryllium felt successful residential areas.

Scrapyards and salvage yards would be kept to dense concern zones nether an amendment councillors supported on  Monday night. 

The yards would nary longer beryllium allowed successful areas zoned for mean industry, which person looser restrictions connected however adjacent manufacture tin beryllium to residential areas and however overmuch a related nuisance can extend past the business's property. 

Mayor Donna Reardon praised the city's efforts to see however zones whitethorn impact residents. 

"Because we are trying to make a balance," she said.

"We don't privation to person areas wherever there's a dispersed of dense industry, mean industry, airy manufacture … we'd similar to person things much segregated truthful that we person conscionable amended power implicit them."

Reardon said determination is greater accidental for maturation erstwhile concern zones are spaced retired and kept distant from residential areas. 

"They conscionable don't enactment adjacent to residential," she said. 

Scrap and salvage businesses tin impact important outdoor storage, dense motortruck traffic, dismantling operations and imaginable biology hazards.

Under the current zoning bylaw, scrapyards tin beryllium successful areas zoned mean industrial, which allows developments with a batch of noise, odours and different nuisances arsenic agelong arsenic these are kept wrong the boundaries of the business.

But a spot tin beryllium excessively tiny to incorporate nuisances from a scrapyard, which mostly impact important dense motortruck traffic, ample dismantling operations and potential environmental hazards. 

The projected alteration comes 2 years aft a toxic occurrence astatine the American Iron & Metal scrapyard connected the westbound side. The hazardous fume from the occurrence prompted a wide shelter-in-place bid successful the city.  A task unit aboriginal concluded the metallic recycling operation was excessively adjacent to homes.

Since the AIM scrapyard was on larboard land, its licensing was under federal jurisdiction, but Reardon said the zoning amendment earlier assembly will make a quality to areas nether the municipality's jurisdiction.

"Because we'll person the scrapyards and recycling of the scrap metallic successful dense manufacture — those zones would beryllium limited," Reardon said.

"It conscionable gives america a small spot much accidental to supply restrictions wherever we privation to enactment them."

When the recommended alteration was introduced earlier to the readying advisory committee, metropolis unit said it was not connected to the 2023 fire. A unit study said the alteration would bring Saint John successful enactment with different large cities successful the province, astir of which confine salvage and scrapyards to heavy manufacture zones. 

Council gave the zoning bylaw amendment archetypal and 2nd reading. It would inactive request a 3rd ceremonial speechmaking for last approvals. 

Paula Radwan was the lone councillor to ballot against the change, saying she was mostly successful favour of the proposal but thought fencing requirements weren't precocious enough. Scrap and salvage yards successful Saint John person to be enclosed by fencing oregon a partition 2 metres high, but Radwan asked if the tallness could beryllium raised.

City planner Thomas Lewallen, who presented the proposal to assembly and, earlier, to the readying advisory committee, said that it would beryllium imaginable to marque amendments successful aboriginal zoning changes to dense concern areas.

Five addresses successful Saint John person salvage trader licences, a unit study says. Two of those properties don't person scrapyards but are alternatively businesses intended for bureau work, unit person said.

Two scrapyards currently in mean concern zones would beryllium considered exceptions to the amendment, allowing them to proceed operating arsenic scrap oregon salvage yards.