Proponents of a pet crematorium on 10th Avenue NE near South Canoe have been urged to speak to their neighbours before Salmon Arm council decides whether to forward their application to the Agricultural Land Commission.
The approximate 10-hectare (25-acre) property at 5491 10th Ave. NE is in the Agricultural Land Reserve and is owned by Lennie and Jay Thurgood, both veterinarians.
The request came to the city’s March 20 planning meeting, and then to council’s regular March 27 meeting. The owners would like to demolish the existing building, the original farmhouse, which was decommissioned. Another house was constructed in 2013.
They would replace the farmhouse with a new building which would house a rural detached dwelling less than 968 square feet (90 square metres) and a pet crematorium which would be less than 1,076 sq. ft (100 square metres).
Both the proposed second dwelling and the pet crematorium are permitted uses under the city’s zoning, but the pet crematorium is considered a non-farm use so must be approved by the ALC. First, however, the city must authorize the application being forwarded to the ALC.
A letter from the manufacturer said the unit would not produce smoke or odour and would not be a nuisance to existing properties. Following cremation the animal remains would be returned to the owners and the operation would not include any on-site disposal. The city’s agricultural advisory committee lent its approval to the request.
At council’s March 27 meeting, Mayor Alan Harrison noted the Thurgoods were present as were neighbours. Council had received a letter from a neighbour opposing the location of the crematorium as well as information from the owners.
A letter from Ernie and Sandy Scherck stated: “While we support the need for a crematorium (not necessarily gas fired) in the area, we do not believe this is the proper location and would prefer to see it located in a light industrial or commercial area.”
They noted they would be most affected by the visibility of the proposed project, plus any operating noise, light, odour and increase in business.
Coun. Debbie Cannon said she was concerned about the size of the animals that would be cremated, because minutes from the agricultural advisory committee meeting said the animals could be up to 1,000 pounds.
Harrison said he had asked the owners at the March 20 meeting to make sure they talked to the neighbours.
“But apparently that did not happen. So my thoughts would be that we defer this motion for four weeks to give the applicants an opportunity to talk with the neighbours, so we could get a fulsome piece of information from the community.”
A motion to defer the request for four weeks passed unanimously.
In a March 27 email to the Observer, Jay Thurgood wrote that “our proposed business would only serve the small animal population not livestock or horses.”
He also said he and his spouse misspoke when they said a crematorium in the Armstrong area was idle.
“It is for sale and is a smaller cremation business than the one in Oyama, but not sitting idle.”
Read more: Veterinarians propose building pet crematorium in Salmon Arm, offering urns
Read more: Salmon Arm brings home shiny selection of medals from BC Winter Games
Read more: Nasty odours meet Chase RCMP investigating break-in of seasonal cabin