The city will at least consider changing the Official Community Plan (OCP) to allow for a gravel quarry off the Alaska Highway next to the Utah Siding yard.

In a 4-2 vote by council Monday evening, members voted to move ahead with the process to consider an OCP amendment that would change the designation of the site to allow for the quarry Norcope Enterprises is proposing.

Norcope president Doug Gonder had asked council to move forward with the OCP change earlier this year, but council had not taken it any further after the request was made.

Gonder approached council about it again last Tuesday, after submitting an altered quarry plan for the site to address concerns that had come up.

Coun. Roslyn Woodcock then served noticed that she would come back with the motion Monday to bring forward the amendment.

Councillors Dan Boyd and Samson Hartland, who both attended last night’s meeting via conference call, voted against the motion to consider the OCP change.

Hartland didn’t comment on his vote.

Boyd stated his belief that the Yukon government, as the land’s owner, should be applying for the OCP change rather than Norcope, which would be using the territory’s land for the operation.

Beyond that and “most important,” Boyd argued documents show the site being considered features a large depression.

At the very least, for any development to happen there down the road, the site would have to use a significant amount of fill.

Taking more material out for gravel through the quarry operation would essentially render it undevelopable, Boyd said, noting he couldn’t support such a move.

Other council members, however, argued the city should at least consider the request.

“I believe this deserves due process,” Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu said.

She pointed out that Norcope has made a number of efforts through this application to deal with concerns that came up over his proposal.

As Coun. Roslyn Woodcock said in an interview last week when she first put forward her motion that it be considered, Norcope has altered its initial proposal to address concerns.

The areas for quarrying are now narrower than initially proposed, making them further from area trails.

Norcope also assured council there would be a visual barrier to keep the quarry out of sight, and plans were outlined to deal with noise and dust.

Coun. Rob Fendrick voted in favour of moving forward with considering the OCP change. However, he stopped short of fully supporting the plans, stating that his vote too was an endorsement for due process more than anything.

“This is what I consider a fairly major development,” he said of the proposed quarry.

Many ramifications must be considered, he added. They range from the impact of the development to the continued need for gravel throughout the city.

As it was stated in a report presented by Mike Gau, the city’s director of development services: “The proposed land use by Norcope would have a significant, long-term impact on the subject site through the quarrying operations and could also potentially impact future land use options in the surrounding area.”

With council’s vote in favour of considering the OCP change, city staff will be tasked with bringing forward a bylaw for the amendment along with outlining the process for that, including the required public input on any proposed change to the OCP.

Meanwhile, Norcope’s proposal is moving through the Yukon Environmental Socio-economic Assessment review.

Most recently, Norcope has been given until Oct. 24 to submit further information requested by the assessment board on the quarry lease, air emissions, a closure plan and a dust management plan.

If the information isn’t provided by the Oct. 24 deadline, the application for the project would be considered withdrawn, the most recent correspondence from the board to Norcope states.

Coun. Betty Irwin was absent from Monday’s meeting.