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Esquimalt wraps public hearings for sewage plant rezoning

The final episode of Esquimalt’s long-running public hearing into whether sewage treatment belongs at McLoughlin Point began in unusual fashion Saturday, as a fire alarm disrupted the proceedings, sending the crowd of 90 out of the Archie Browning Sp
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Saturday: Esquimalt holds the fourth and final session of a public hearing into an application to rezone McLoughlin Point for a sewage treatment plant.

The final episode of Esquimalt’s long-running public hearing into whether sewage treatment belongs at McLoughlin Point began in unusual fashion Saturday, as a fire alarm disrupted the proceedings, sending the crowd of 90 out of the Archie Browning Sports Centre.

The hearing began after a brief delay and continued for about four hours as people spoke on rezoning McLoughlin Point to allow a $230-million sewage treatment plant on the site.

Susan Woods didn’t pull any punches Saturday in her assessment of the structure that would house the treatment facility, calling it “a giant lump of a building complex.”

Esquimalt resident Roger Wheelock described the project as having “a San Quentin prison wall.” He said his objections had nothing to do with a NIMBY — Not in My Backyard — attitude.

“It’s Not in All of Our Front Yards,” he quipped.

Denying the rezoning is the choice to make, he told councillors, but “some newer generation will bless you for it.”

The Capital Regional District has been seeking to locate the plant at the site of a former oil tank farm at McLoughlin Point for more than a year as part of a $783-million regional sewage project. The site is zoned to allow wastewater treatment, but the CRD is seeking encroachments — a maximum of four per cent — into a 7.5-metre shoreline buffer and to increase the allowable height. The CRD first submitted a rezoning application to Esquimalt in January 2013.

Amenities worth more than $13 million have been offered to Esquimalt if the siting of the plant receives approval, including a bike and path system on Lyall Street, public art, oceanfront walkways and $55,000 a year for five years.

Despite that, members of the public have urged Esquimalt council to turn down the rezoning, saying the McLoughlin Point parcel is too small and criticizing the idea of having a sewage plant at such a prominent spot next to Victoria’s harbour.

Saturday’s gathering was the final session of a public hearing that began Feb. 18-19. Since all the people wanting to speak couldn’t be accommodated during the February dates, a third session was held Thursday, followed by Saturday’s wrap-up.

Esquimalt council is scheduled to make its decision on the rezoning on April 7.

jwbell@timescolonist.com