Angst mounting over gravel pit
Maple Ridge council is expected to vote on a proposed quarry in Yennadon on Oct. 9
Yennadon residents are worried a proposed gravel pit would bring trucks, dust, and noise into their residential neighbourhood.
Photograph by: Sylver McLaren , TIMES
Residents made up signs, someone formulated a petition - and a teenager even started making a documentary about a proposed gravel quarry in east Maple Ridge.
On Saturday, about 150 area residents came for a "stroll" around the neighbourhood to look at and discuss the impact a gravel pit would have on the neighbourhood.
"A lot of people are very concerned about the proposal to put a mine right in the middle of their residential area," said Yennadon resident Katherine Wagner.
"This is all residential, all the way around. There is some ALR (agricultural land reserve) in the middle. Nobody has a problem with ALR, but we do have a problem with a gravel quarry mine in the middle of our neighbourhood. "
An application to remove 400,000 cubic metres of gravel from a property at 23613 124th Ave. was sent to the Agricultural Land Commission this summer.
The ACL decided to forward it to Maple Ridge council to decide whether to move forward with the proposal.
If council approves the gravel quarry, it could also set a precedent in Maple Ridge, Wagner said, opening up the possibility of gravel quarries elsewhere in the District.
Residents of the neighbourhood worry about the dust and constant noise, but also about their property values going down, Wagner said.
"When you put one-acre lots and residential use beside a gravel resource, that means you can't use the gravel resource," said former Maple Ridge councillor Craig Speirs, who also lives in the area and was at the neighbourhood stroll. "To do so would cause total discord in the neighbourhood. Council doesn't need the distraction. They have enough to deal with in the ALC without having something like this come forward."
Geoff Clayton, president of the Alouette River Management Society, voiced his concerns about a quarry on local watercourses.
"The Alouette River Management Society is quite concerned about this because this is the headwaters of Coho Creek and as such there could and very well be some impact from gravel extraction on the head waters," Clayton said. "The ecosystem here is unique, it's fragile, and we are very concerned."
Maple Ridge council will deal with the quarry issue at next Monday's council-in-committee meeting and a decision is expected at the regular council meeting on Oct. 9.
This Friday evening, there will be a community discussion about the quarry at Yennadon Elementary, 23347 128th Ave. at 7: 30 p.m.
Yennadon residents are worried a proposed gravel pit would bring trucks, dust, and noise into their residential neighbourhood.
Photograph by: Sylver McLaren , TIMES
