Comox council will consider amending the town's business licence bylaw, in response to a development permit application for a topsoil operation at 1660 Knight Rd.With the exception of Couns. Tom Grant and Ken Grant, committee of the whole members voted Wednesday in favour of considering third reading of an amended bylaw that could limit the hours of operation and delivery of product on weekends at Island Enterprises. Council will discuss the matter next week.Tom Grant feels it is unfair to single out John Watt's business. "Who in their right mind would buy a piece of commercial property, and spend two years getting a development permit with no certainty on what the hours of operation are going to be because it would be at the whim of this council?" Grant said. "Philosophically, it's wrong to do things like that. "I don't think we have a very strong reputation in the business community as it is because of some of the decisions that have been made. This one flies in the face of reason ... we have to be very careful with how we treat businesses and business in general."Ken Grant suggests council is trying to solve non-existent problems. "I think we should do nothing with this at the present time," he said. Couns. Russ Arnott, Marcia Turner and Patti Fletcher all like the "wait and see approach," as suggested by town staff. Watt's application proposes retail and outdoor storage of topsoil, finished compost and bark mulch, and construction of a covered fuel facility. Following an emotionally charged public hearing in December, council initially turned down the application in a 3-3 vote with Arnott, Turner and Fletcher opposed. After another well-attended meeting in January, council issued the permit subject to conditions that limit the amount of product stored outside and increase the height of a berm along the property's west side to 4.5 metres. Some area residents expressed concern about increased noise from truck and equipment activity. The intent of council's resolution to amend the bylaw is to minimize noise in the neighbourhood. At this point, the town does not limit the hours of operation at any business in Comox. When it receives complaints, it works with a business to try to reduce the nuisance. Watt said his topsoil business has operated 20 years without one noise complaint at 1200 Military Road off Knight. He also said a study indicated there would be "no significant (noise) impact" at 1660 Knight, "yet my hours of operation may be limited." He paid $3,000 to hire a sound expert from Vancouver to attend the last meeting. "No one asked him a single question," Watt said. "The town has had noise complaints from other businesses, and those businesses have not had any restrictions put on them. Why would my business be the only one in Comox to have limited hours of operation? Is that fair?"reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com