District of North Vancouver council will revisit its decision to stop Chemtrade from producing chlorine at its Maplewood area plant.

Mayor Mike Little made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon saying new information has come forward that merits a second look.

“It is a significant enough change that it both requires reconsideration and a new public hearing,” he said.

The chlor alkali plant has been operating on the North Vancouver waterfront since the 1950s but the company is facing a 2030 deadline from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to move the chlorine production portion of its business onto land that is subject to the district’s zoning bylaw which doesn’t allow manufacturing of hazardous materials. If leaked, chlorine can be fatal.

On April 13, a split council voted 4-3 to deny that request, putting into question the future of the company as well as the supply chain for water treatment chemicals in Metro Vancouver.

Little, along with Couns. Lisa Muri, Betty Forbes and Catherine Pope, voted to deny the rezoning.

Couns. Jim Hanson, Jordan Back and Herman Mah argued in favour of it.

Under the B.C. Community Charter, mayors have the authority to bring back a matter for reconsideration after it has already been voted on, though it is rarely used.

In an interview, Little said he could not get into all of the details about what changed but he said after the original vote, Chemtrade came forward with provisions to address council’s concerns about site security, quantitative risk assessments and the permanent nature of the rezoning that would allow hazardous materials to be produced on the property in perpetuity.

“They’ve basically taken those concerns and they believe that there’s a way to come to a mutual agreement … to make sure that those issues can be addressed before the project moves forward,” he said.

Little said he is tentatively planning to bring the matter back on May 25.

“It will all be done in public and we will make sure that all of the information is known to the public and to the council long before we have another decision on the matter,” he said.

Procedurally, the process wipes out the second and third reading votes that happened on April 13. All of the information and comments submitted to council over two nights of public hearings in February will still be on the record, Little said.

Little said his move for reconsideration doesn’t mean anyone will ultimately be expected to change their vote and that he expects an open and thorough discussion.

During the controversial public process leading up to the April 13 vote, Chemtrade representatives stressed that the plant supplies about 70 per cent of the chlorine used for water treatment in Western Canada. Even if district council were to arrive at the same decision again after a new public hearing, Little said he would have no concerns about Metro Vancouver’s ability to provide clean water.

The port’s lease of the property to Chemtrade extends to 2044.