Sunday, February 16, 2025

Canso Spaceport rezoning request has public hearing; heads to council vote

No opposition voiced in person or in writing

  • January 15 2025
  • By Alec Bruce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter    

CANSO — A bid to rezone a key plot of land for the future Canso Spaceport had a public hearing on Jan. 8 without recording a single citizen complaint, bringing the 10-year-long project one step closer to reality, according to its proponent.

“Moving forward, [this] is indeed important because of the revenue we will generate and the employment [that] will bring to the community,” Stephen Matier, founder and president of Maritime Launch Services Ltd. (MLS), told The Journal in an email last week.

But, as the company’s request to permit a satellite launch tracking hub on its seven-acre property in Canso now heads back to Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) council for a vote, at least one local resident said he did not have an opportunity to address council despite showing up to speak at the hearing in municipal chambers last week.

“I thought it was a public meeting,” said Jim Geddes, a member of the Action Against Canso Spaceport (AACS) citizens group, in an email to The Journal. “It was actually a special council meeting.”

The 4:15 p.m. hearing had been scheduled specifically to allow members of the public to comment on MLS’s bid to reclassify the acreage as light industrial – an “important long-term development” that would permit the company’s first commercial clients to proceed, according to Matier in a letter to MODG staff in November.

“We are already incorporating one [client whose] small footprint [is] allowed under the MRR-1 designation, into the plan,” Matier explained in the letter. “The second client has a much larger build planned, and we will need commercial zoning in place [for that].”

But Geddes – a vocal opponent of the scheme since 2016, when Matier first proposed it – said that in order to speak about the request he and the “two other people” who accompanied him to the hearing “would have had to inform them [MODG council] in writing prior to the meeting” that they wanted to speak. “We did not and were not able to ... So, after they [councillors] spoke about the rezoning, we went home.”

According to an announcement published in the Dec. 18 and 25 editions of The Journal, the hearing was an “opportunity for residents to make formal written or oral submissions to municipal council regarding the proposed rezoning of this property, to permit the development of a satellite and launch tracking and data transmission hub ... Council shall consider all written and oral submissions by interested persons who would like to express concerns or comments regarding the proposed amendment to the zoning map.”

The ad also noted that written submissions “shall be addressed to Deborah Torrey, Development Officer, at 33 Pleasant Street, Guysborough, NS or by email: dtorrey@modg.ca. [and] will be received by the municipal office until 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 8, 2025” and that copies of the application and “all related information” could be obtained in advance at the municipal building weekdays. “It is council’s intention to pass a motion following the hearing to either approve or reject this rezoning or refer the matter to the [municipal] committee of the whole for further review.”

At the hearing, Torrey reported to council that MODG staff had not received any “written presentations” on the rezoning request, adding: “As of now [Jan. 8], we have not received any requests for oral presentations [to] council.”

Referring to his group’s “over 400 voting age” members, Geddes said in an email to The Journal on Jan. 3, “There are far more people who oppose it [spaceport] than support it,” adding: “A large percentage of those who support it were told that if they didn’t, the hospital would close, followed by our community dying.... Those who are indifferent believe this will never happen and it’s not worth worrying about.”

Criticism has focused on the potential impact of a commercial rocket launching facility on health and safety, property values, and long-term economic development. Said Geddes: “You cannot safely launch rockets three kilometres from the community.”

Matier, meanwhile, rejects the suggestion that the community does not generally support the spaceport – which includes 335 acres of provincial Crown land secured with regulatory approvals, in addition to the seven-acre plot on Dover Rd.

In an email to The Journal last month, he said most “community members from across the municipality have been open and gracious with their time and interest by attending our open houses, meeting with experts, writing and calling us for updates and seeking understanding by asking difficult questions.”

Moreover, he said, with the newly land rezoned, MLS would finally be in a position to capitalize on new market opportunities and commercialize the business, which has been financed largely by its investors from day one. “This is something that has never been done before in our country, and we are proud to lead this charge.”

Council will vote on the rezoning request at its regular meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 22.