Saint John scrapyards and salvage recyclers would be restricted to “heavy industrial” zones of the city, under a proposed zoning bylaw amendment aimed at better protecting residents.
The proposed change isn’t related to a toxic fire almost two years ago at the American Iron & Metal scrapyard.
But it would bring Saint John in line with most other cities in New Brunswick, Thomas Lewallen, a planner with growth and community development services, told the planning advisory committee on Tuesday.
Scrap and salvage businesses can involve significant outdoor storage, heavy truck traffic, dismantling operations and potential environmental hazards, says a staff report.
The zoning bylaw now allows scrapyards in “medium industrial” zones, but a property can be too small to contain the noise, odours and other nuisances the business produces.
In areas zoned heavy industrial, noise and smells may spread beyond the business operation itself, but a buffer zone of 1½ kilometres around the property is required to protect residential communities from the impact.
Scrap and salvage yards also need to be enclosed by fencing or a wall, but the enclosures don’t do anything about broader impacts to the environment or nearby homes, the report says.
In 2023, hazardous smoke from a fire at AIM’s metal-recycling operation in Saint John prompted a widespread shelter-in-place order. A task force concluded the site next to the harbour was too close to west side homes.
But the AIM operation is in a different category from a handful of licensed scrapyards in the city.
“AIM is a bit of a separate issue because it is located on port land, so licensing or permitting is not through through the municipality, due to … that unique connection with port land being under federal jurisdiction,” community planning manager Jennifer Kirchner, a member of the planning committee, said in an interview.
“We are always looking at our bylaw and looking to amend [the zoning bylaw] to better serve the community and reflect different land uses. And as part of that, we looked at scrap or salvage yards.”
Raven Blue, who, along with other residents, pushed for more stringent regulation of AIM, said the changes the city is considering could be significant for residential areas near heavy industrial zones.
“The storage of vehicles, scrap metal vehicles themselves are inevitably becoming more and more toxic as we’re dealing with electric cars and all the toxic heavy metals that are used in the manufacture of those cars,” Blue said.
“I think it sounds like the city is doing the right thing by limiting where that type of material can be stored. But of course we would want to understand where some of those locations are where that zoning might take place in the future and what their plans are in how they might use that zoning.”
Five addresses in Saint John have salvage dealer licences, the staff report says. Two do not have yards and are businesses intended for office work, Kirshner said.
One of the addresses is already in a heavy industrial zone. Two scrapyards are in medium industrial zones. One is Jamie’s Scrap Metal, an east end junkyard. The other is another AIM operation, also in the east end.
The zoning bylaw amendment would not apply to these locations, and the businesses can continue to operate where they are.
The planning committee approved the proposed amendment, which goes before council on May 5.
