An application has been made for a gravel pit on Westside Road directly across from the Revelstoke Golf Club.
The application, by Revelstoke Sand & Gravel Ltd. (RSG), has gone to both the City of Revelstoke and the province’s Integrated Land Management Bureau. The company requires approval from the city for a development permit, and from the latter for use of Crown land. You can read their applications at the end of this article.
RSG is proposing to develop an 8.1 hectare gravel pit near the banks of the Columbia River, just south of the city waste management facility. The quarry would be located 200 metres from the river, and about 600 metres from the golf clubhouse.
The application with the ILMB for use of Crown land says the company wants to produce aggregate for use in the Revelstoke area. Access to the site would allow RSG to operate year-round and be competitive with Interroute, who operate an adjacent gravel pit.
The company plans on producing an average of 10,000 cubic metres per year over the first five years of operation. The report says a maximum of five hectares out of the eight-hectare area will be used, and that the area will be re-forested once it is no longer in use as a quarry.
A staff report from Dean Strachan, the city’s manager of development services, recommends council issue a development permit for the application, subject to having a biologist prepare a report on any water courses on the property.
The city and Interroute also operate gravel pits in the Westside Road area.
The Interroute pit was the source of controversy in 2010 when resident Stuart Andrews led a fight against its expansion to 16 hectares from five hectares.
In 2013, the North Columbia Environmental Society wrote a letter asking no more gravel pit permits be issued within the City of Revelstoke airshed, citing health and environmental concerns.
Council is set to discuss the development application this Tuesday, Aug. 11. Applications with the ILMB generally take at least three months to process.
DP 2015-09 274 322 Westside Road 2015-08-11 by AlexCooperRTR
