Maple Ridge wants to ensure what little industrial land it has is put to the best use, so it’s trying to limit the number of auto wreckers in the city.
Staff are going to hammer out some bylaw changes that will ban any more junkyards in the city’s M2 industrial zone, council decided at its July 17 meeting.
Currently, seven auto wreckers are located in Maple Ridge. But there are applications to open another three yards, which require “sizable amounts of land to operate, creating a low employee-to-land ratio,” says a staff report.
In addition to taking up a lot of land, once the property is used to store old cars, soil could be contaminated if oil, gas or antifreeze is mishandled, which could require remediation, which adds to cost of developing the property for another use.
In addition, redevelopment potential of neighbouring properties could also be affected, says the report, which also recognized the important role played by such facilities.
As well, the industry has also improved its environmental practices in recent years.
While Maple Ridge already has seven such lots, amounting to a total of eight acres and employing 19 people, that’s just a fraction of the total of 97 auto wreckers in the Lower Mainland.
Surrey has the most, with 19, while Abbotsford and Langley each have 16, with 11 in Langley.
Three of Maple Ridge’s wreckers are located in the Albion Industrial Area, three are in the north 256th Street area, while the seventh is in Ruskin.
The report notes that the Albion Industrial Area has only 6.25 jobs per acre compared to 36 jobs per acre in Maple Meadows Industrial Park.
But it was expected that auto wreckers would relocate to the 256th Street industrial area.
However, in one year alone, 2017, land values in the 256th Street area have jumped by 36 per cent.
If auto wreckers are banned from Maple Ridge’s M2 zone, any new proposals would have to apply for M5 zoning.
Council could also require that new wreckers operate indoors, without outdoor lots for old vehicles and parts.
Existing wreckers won’t be affected by any change. Wreckers must all have an environmental management plan.
With the shortage of industrial and commercial land, the economic development and planning departments want higher employment densities and high-tech enterprises on whatever industrial land the city has.