The current Sydney land use bylaw, which governs the future development of the SYSCO property, was written in the late 1980’s before the municipality was amalgamated. The land use zoning for the region is shown on Figure 2.1. It indicates that the SYSCO property is zoned for Heavy Industrial, and permits the following uses:

• Any manufacturing, industrial, assembly or warehousing operation conducted and wholly contained within an enclosed building
• Any activity connected with the automotive trade other than an automotive scrap yard
• Boat and marine supplies and sales
• Breweries
• Building supply and equipment depots but excluding the bulk storage of sand or gravel
• Business and professional offices
• Dry cleaning establishment or depot
• Furniture Stores G-376-SYD
• Impound areas provided that the impoundment area is fully screened from the street and all abutting properties
• Oil refineries, heavy metal foundries, petrochemical manufacture, heavy water manufacture, steel and iron manufacture, coking plants, and related storage and industries provided such uses are not located within 150 metres (492.13 ft.) of a Residential Zone
• Railway uses
• Service industries
• Warehouses
• Wholesale Sales

CBRM is currently preparing a regional plan and revised Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS), which is to be in effect sometime late in 2002. There is no anticipated change to the heavy industrial zone on the SYSCO site.

It would appear that both the existing MPS and land use by-law, as well as the proposed revised MPS, both support the continued use of the SYSCO and Coke Ovens sites for heavy industrial activities.