The power project developer — which still owns lands at the terminus of Main Street, east of Fifth Line — is asking the Town to maintain the industrial designation on the property and include an electricity generating facility as a permitted use.

While the Province has announced that it’s looking at Mississauga, Oakville or Etobicoke as the next location for a power plant, the company wants to keep its Milton site available for a future opportunity, if it were to arise.

The issue came up during Monday night’s town council meeting as part of the discussion on the Derry Green Corporate Business Park Secondary Plan, which is being developed to prepare lands south of Hwy. 401, between James Snow Parkway and Sixth Line, for a future business park.

Through the secondary plan process the Town is proposing a business park designation for Pristine’s property, meaning the preferred use for the land would be office space.

During the meeting, Ward 1 Councillor Brian Penman contended that the industrial nature of a power plant wouldn’t fit with the Town’s vision for a business park. But consultant Allan Windrem, who spoke on behalf of Pristine, said he doesn’t see any conflicts.

“This is a utility, and utilities are located in business parks,” he said. “I think it’s fair to say our request should be viewed as an option for these lands.”

Although Pristine has asked the Town for the land use designation, Town staff indicated to the Champion that the request isn’t going to get very far.

“We’re telling them to go away,” said Town Manager of Planning Policy Bill Mann. “I think politically, we’ve got every indication that we shouldn’t be supporting (Pristine) in any manner.”

While the Province did approve an environmental assessment (EA) Pristine prepared for its proposal, Mann said the Town has concerns from an air quality and environmental perspective, among other things.

Penman said he thinks the EA will have to be revisited, since its results could be altered due to the increasing volumes of traffic on nearby Hwy. 401 and the fact a power plant is now being built just over the Milton border in Halton Hills.

The councillor asked Windrem if he thinks the EA results would stand the test of time, particularly in light of the new Halton Hills power plant, and Windrem said yes.

During Monday’s meeting, council endorsed preparing the Derry Green secondary plan on the basis of ‘option 1A,’ which includes fewer roads than option 1 and a mix of business park, prestige office and industrial uses. A community park is also proposed.

The purpose of the secondary plan is to provide greater detail on things like the preferred range of employment uses, urban design, transportation and parks and open space systems.

Industrial-commercial-institutional (ICI) development is taking place in Milton at a rapid rate, with 1.96 million square feet of ICI growth last year — a number that surpasses the previous record of 1.86 million square feet set in 2006.

Town council learned last year that if serviced employment land continues to be used up at the current speedy rate, it will be built out in five to six years, making the new business park all the more urgent.

In addition to preparing the secondary plan, staff will also be meeting with business park landowners to discuss whether they’ll form a partnership to share the costs for things like collector roads and stormwater management works.

Staff hopes to bring a draft of the secondary plan to council early next year.

Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com .