The decommissioning of the Curling water supply could open up a whole new area for Corner Brook to expand into.
At Monday night’s public meeting, city council approved the decommissioning of the area located off the Lewin Parkway in the west end of the city.
The Curling water supply was essentially a second backup and is no longer deemed necessary, given the city’s new water treatment plant and distribution system.
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Corner Brook city council decides to formally decommission former Curling water supply
While there are still some formalities to be followed through on, the site will soon no longer be a fully protected site and could possibly be used for a number of purposes that hitherto were not permitted.
“That is a bonus of the decommissioning and was not the primary reason for doing it,” Mayor Jim Parsons said in an interview Tuesday.
Parsons said a plan of some sort will have to be developed, including seeking public input, before any changes are made to how the area might get rezoned.
“It’s a big area and it will require more than just a little thought,” he said. “I would suspect there will be multiple pieces and it won’t just become one new zone type.”
In addition to its potential for residential development, the area is near the Lundrigan Industrial Park, making business expansion a possibly nice fit. The area is also close to the Blow-Me-Down Trails and popular snowmobiling and all-terrain vehicle trails, which makes adding more recreational elements an appropriate option.
Given there are several ponds located in the water supply, Parsons envisions a plan that would likely also retain some of the protective aspects of the water supply.
City staff has already been directed to start the process of making a plan for the area’s future, but Parsons said the possibilities are definitely interesting.
“We want to be very careful but we do want to start that process, so down the road we won’t be held up having to do the rezoning then,” said Parsons.
