{"id":31746,"date":"2021-01-11T13:37:05","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T18:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=31746"},"modified":"2021-01-12T16:25:57","modified_gmt":"2021-01-12T21:25:57","slug":"proposed-abattoir-goes-to-second-and-third-reading-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/proposed-abattoir-goes-to-second-and-third-reading-tonight\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed abattoir goes to second and third reading tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At their meeting tonight, Sackville Town Council will consider second and third readings of bylaw and plan amendments that would make way for an abattoir to operate at 72 Crescent St. in Sackville.<\/p>\n

The controversial proposal from cattle farmer Chris Pierce of Frosty Hollow would see half of the building at 72 Crescent St. converted to an abattoir. Pierce says that in addition to slaughtering and processing animals for local farmers, he hopes to open a retail butcher shop at the site.<\/p>\n

Opposition to the proposal has been slowly growing since planner Lori Bickford first brought the bylaw changes to council\u2019s attention back in September, 2020.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Sackville resident Jean Pascal Lavoie submitted a petition expressing opposition to the proposed location for the abattoir to the town.<\/p>\n

101 people signed the petition, 23 of whom live with a half-kilometre of the site.<\/p>\n

The petition expresses concern over a lack of transparency about the scale of the proposed abattoir, environmental impacts, smell and a potential decrease in property values around the proposed site.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A map created by Sackville resident Jean Pascal Lavoie shows, in red, the households that signed a petition in opposition to the establishment of an abattoir on the proposed site. The three red circles represent 500 metre, 750 metre, and 1 kilometre radii around the proposed site. The image has been purposefully blurred for privacy reasons. Photo courtesy of Jean Pascal Lavoie.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lavoie says he is not opposed to an abattoir within town limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do want, for matters of food security and for local development, to see an abattoir in the region,\u201d says Lavoie. \u201cWhere our position lies is that this is a semi-densely populated area. It\u2019s within proximity of residential areas. And every principle, every study that you read on the subject would recommend this is not good practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three bylaw and plan amendments in question came up for first reading at town council\u2019s December meeting. Four councillors voted in favour of the changes: Couns. Shawn Mesheau, Bill Evans, Andrew Black, and Allison Butcher. Two voted against: Couns. Mike Tower and Bruce Phinney.<\/p>\n

At that meeting, Coun. Michael Tower asked planner Lori Bickford about why the abattoir was being considered for the industrial park instead of on agricultural land.<\/p>\n

Bickford said the impact and types of uses expected in the abattoir were more in line with an industrial area. She also said that in the definitions of the zoning bylaw, it stated that abattoirs were not considered an agricultural use.<\/p>\n

Of course, abattoirs are not a permitted use anywhere in Sackville\u2019s zoning bylaw, as it currently stands. That\u2019s why one of the three proposed amendments that council will consider tonight is the addition of a new \u201cintensive resource\u201d zone to the zoning bylaw.<\/p>\n

A second proposed change will amend the town\u2019s municipal plan to allow this new \u201cintensive resource\u201d zone to be permitted in the industrial\/business park designation in the plan, but nowhere else.<\/p>\n

Chris Pierce says he consulted planner Lori Bickford early on in the process, when he was considering locations for his proposed abattoir.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke to Lori a few times there as we were curious on some locations,\u201d says Pierce. \u201cIt has to be zoned industrial, and there\u2019s not very much in town that is zoned industrial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pierce says that he has met with one of the province\u2019s inspectors for abattoirs. He has also spoken with others involved in abattoirs, though not with owners.<\/p>\n

Pierce has been tight-lipped about the number of cattle he plans to slaughter and process at the proposed Crescent Street abattoir. The proposed development agreement with the town of Sackville (one of the amendments to be considered for approval tonight) also does not specify a number, though a report from Lori Bickford to the\u00a0Southeast Planning Review and Adjustment committee<\/a>\u00a0says that, \u201capproximately 15 head of cattle a week is proposed to be slaughtered and processed at the operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one interview in September, Pierce said that his eventual goal was to be the size of Memramcook abattoir Boudreau Meats, which reportedly slaughters about 50 animals per week.<\/p>\n

At the time, the owner of 72 Crescent St. Richard Baughan said he expected Pierce\u2019s operation to be a small one, at least in the beginning. Baughan said he expected one or two animals per day to be killed and butchered in the facility.<\/p>\n

When asked recently about the planned size of his operation, Pierce says he has a number in mind, \u201cbut I\u2019d rather not say right now, because everybody is all up in arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pierce feels that the abattoir will not be as disruptive to the area as some are concerned it may be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should look the same today as it does if we\u2019re in full production,\u201d says Pierce. \u201cThere should be nothing outside. It should be just a few cars, with people working there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just going to be a local butcher shop, it\u2019s not going to be a Hub Meat Packers,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Pierce says he is planning to store blood waste in a \u201ccertified tank\u201d that would be buried on site, so as to avoid having to do an influent-effluent study that would be required in order to use the town\u2019s wastewater system.<\/p>\n

He says that the \u201cspecified risk material,\" which includes heads and spinal cords of cattle, will be collected and trucked away by someone licensed to transport and dispose of the material in the province.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Floor plan for proposed abattoir at 72 Crescent St. in Sackville. Source: Report to Southeast Planning Review and Adjustment Committee, October 28, 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pierce currently runs a cow-calf operation in Frosty Hollow, where he keeps upwards of 100 animals at any one time. His farm produces calves for sale. In addition, he works full time with the town\u2019s public works department. Pierce says he doesn\u2019t think running an abattoir will change his work situation elsewhere as of now, but, \u201cit all depends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Sackville Mayor Pat Estabrooks is also calling on town council not to approve the rezoning that would allow for the abattoir.\u00a0Estabrooks told Warktimes\u00a0<\/a>the planning commission did not do due diligence when it only advised those living within 100 metres of the proposed site.<\/p>\n

Estabrooks says that council should not approve changes until residents on Crescent Street, Beal Heights and Charles Street have had their say.<\/p>\n

Jean-Pascal Lavoie says that he feels alternative locations are available in Sackville.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can take land that is not within proximity of residential areas and council would not have any objections,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Lavoie also says that according to the people he\u2019s spoken to, the costs of running a licensed abattoir will be prohibitively high. That, in addition to Pierce\u2019s September comments regarding his goal to grow as large as Boudreau Meats, are a cause for concern, he says, because it means the town could be under future pressure to allow the abattoir to expand, to make it more financially viable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt creates a precedent,\u201d says Lavoie, and opens up town council to the argument that if it does not support expansion, it is not supporting its own local businesses.<\/p>\n

Lavoie and others also express concern about the capacity for the town to enforce regulations around the site. \u201cThey\u2019re already over capacity, as far as how they can maintain regulations,\u201d says Lavoie. \u201cWe can see multiple areas in town where we have one bylaw officer who does not have sufficient powers, who does not have the manpower and capacity to enforce regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council meets tonight at 7 p.m. Check the links here to either watch or participate in the meeting.<\/a><\/p>\n

Links to proposed amendments:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The proposed amendment to include an \u201cintensive resource\u201d zone in Sackville\u2019s zoning bylaw.<\/a>\u00a0(PDF file)<\/p>\n

The proposed amendment to include a new \u201cintensive resource\u201d zone in Sackville\u2019s town plan, under industrial\/business park designation<\/a>. (PDF file)<\/p>\n

The proposed amendment to change the zoning at 72 Crescent Street to the new \u201cintensive resource\u201d zone, via development agreement<\/a>. (PDF file)<\/p>\n

Related stories:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Changes to allow for abattoir pass first reading at town council,<\/a> Dec. 16, 2020, Erica Butler<\/p>\n

Council to consider abattoir on Crescent Street<\/a>, Sept. 9, 2020, Erica Butler<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At their meeting tonight, Sackville Town Council will consider second and third readings of bylaw and plan amendments that would make way for an abattoir to operate at 72 Crescent St. in Sackville. The controversial proposal from cattle farmer Chris Pierce of Frosty Hollow would see half of the building at 72 Crescent St. converted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":31748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[217,57,225],"tags":[1212,3619],"radio":[],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31746"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31746"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=31746"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=31746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}