RM rejects Amazon warehouse application

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This article was published 18/04/2024 (896 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RM of Cornwallis council unanimously rejected a conditional use application at its Tuesday night meeting that would have allowed for the construction of an Amazon delivery warehouse.

At a public hearing on March 12, applicant Chirag Acharya, speaking on behalf of his son who he said was president of their corporation, said they were interested in purchasing a property at the corner of Patricia Avenue East and Baker Road to move their operations from Brandon to Cornwallis. They also wanted to establish a residence on the site.

With the property zoned for agricultural use, they were required to seek a conditional-use permit from the municipality.

The applicant said their current property in Brandon is at 393 Park Ave. East, which is listed online as a location for Intelcom, a delivery company contracted to do deliveries for Amazon in Canada. It is also listed as an address for Hertz Equipment Rentals, MNC Courier and Logidex Logistics Distribution Express.

Acharya said the development would have resulted in a daily delivery of goods from Winnipeg to the warehouse every morning, with delivery drivers going to the warehouse to pick up items for distribution to Brandon, Minnedosa and Shilo.

“Council deems an Amazon delivery warehouse use incompatible with the agricultural general zone,” Reeve Sam Hofer said at the meeting.

“No condition imposed would result with a warehouse use compatible with the general nature of the surrounding area. The warehouse would create large truck traffic and noise, particularly in the evenings, that would be detrimental to the safety and welfare of the people living in the surrounding area.”

Reached by phone on Wednesday, Hofer said while the area is zoned as agricultural land, it would be more accurate to think of it as a residential area where some people have horses on their property.

When it came time for residents to weigh in on the application at the March 12 meeting, no one came forward when Hofer asked for comments in support.

One resident, Levi Ferguson, wanted to know why an industrial road being developed on the other end of the municipality along the Trans-Canada Highway wasn’t being used for the purpose instead of taking up agricultural land and potentially affecting his local water source as a neighbour.

Several other residents also asked why the warehouse was not being proposed for the new industrial zone.

Ferguson said the applicant had not posted his proposal on the property site on how safety, fire risk, traffic impact and noise mitigation would be handled 10 days in advance of the hearing as required by law.

“It’s going to get busier as Brandon expands,” Ferguson said. “I don’t care if Brandon expands, but it is inside city limits and this is outside of city limits that he is operating this business. It does not help the RM of Cornwallis.”

Carla Chamberlain said that as someone who had previously received permission to establish a business on a property zoned for agriculture, she has come to realize that it has impacts on neighbours.

“My business only runs one day a week and I only have 30 cars that come on that day, but that increased traffic impacts my neighbours, that increased dust,” she said. “To approve a conditional-use application for a commercial business in an ag zone, you need to know what the long-term plan is.”

She argued that granting a permit would essentially give the applicant free rein to do whatever they wanted with the property going forward. The increase in commercial traffic could affect the safety of children and livestock, she said.

The next speaker, Linda Forbes, agreed that the proposal didn’t contain enough information and said she was worried that it would set a bad precedent if it was approved.

After the public spoke, Acharya told councillors during questioning that he had not yet figured out a route for trailers to take to the property.

Neither Intelcom nor Amazon responded to requests for comment about the rejection by the Sun’s print deadline.

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