Heather Wright/The Independent

York1 Environmental is going to court in a bid to avoid rezoning its Dresden property for its construction and soil recycling facility and landfill.

York1 Environmental has plans to turn the derelict dump into a construction and soil waste recycling centre and rebuild the 20-acre landfill. Up to 700 trucks a day could be headed to Irish School Road site if the project moves ahead as the Mississauga company originally planned.

The company has long disputed whether it needs to rezone the property, saying it has always been used for the purposes it plans.

While there was a dump on the site, it covered only a fraction of the 80 acre property. The company plans to completely rebuild it.

A recent letter from the Ministry of Environment Conservation and Parks said the Municipality of Chatham-Kent would “responsibility for Planning Act decisions, including any zoning amendments, rests with the municipality.”

While York1 is not immediately available to talk about the court application, Chatham-Kent says it was notified of the court action Nov. 14, one day before top administrators met with York1’s planners. The topic of zoning again surfaced there.

“The Municipality of Chatham-Kent has consistently told York1 that land use planning approvals are needed, including zoning and official plan changes. In the past two weeks, legal counsel for Chatham-Kent wrote to York1 to reiterate their need for these land use approvals,” writes Eric Labadie, manager of communications for the municipality. Letters released in a Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy request show Chatham-Kent and York1 were already talking about legal action in 2022.

Labadie says “will be vigorously defending the action and seeking a court order requiring York1 to seek approvals from Chatham-Kent Council.”

A hearing date has been set for March 3.