Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 24/99) - An angry group of Old Town residents were threatening legal action Monday night against a move the city says was designed to help solidify the same residents' rights to waterfront land.

The dozen residents showed up to protest a city plan to lease land they say is theirs. The city maintains the property is owned by the territorial government.

"The city's trying to expropriate, that's what they're trying to do," said Les Rocher, one of the property owners.

The residents said they received no notice of the city's plan despite assurances from the city that they would be kept informed of any plans for their land.

A bylaw authorizing the city to enter into a lease agreement with the government was scheduled for first, second and third reading by council Monday night.

That part of the agenda was changed without explanation. It was decided the land would be dealt with in the new year, after the completion of a waterfront study the city is conducting.

"That's a case of poor communication," said Mayor Dave Lovell when asked after the meeting why the matter was dropped from the agenda.

The Old Town shore lands run from the government dock south to the waterfront that runs parallel to Bretzlaff Drive. A large waterfront lot, on which the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development offices sit, is excluded. Included is part of the Sail North marina and land between a number of private residences and the bay.

Lovell said the plan would have legitimized ownership of the land between the residents' homes and the lake. The ownership confusion was created when property owners were permitted to extend their lots out into the bay through infilling.

Though the territorial and federal government gave permission to infill, it did not resolve who owned the infilled portion, said Lovell.

"Their point is they're worried about getting big lease fees for something they've used for free," said the mayor.

Residents said they already have a legitimate claim to the land, have surveys that show it and are prepared to go to court to prove it.

City senior planner Monte Christensen said it was "pretty well a foregone conclusion" that the land would be leased to adjacent property owners.

He said the city's key planning documents establish public access to all of the waterfront as one of the city's goals. The trick will be balancing that lofty goal with the practical realities of long-standing use by adjacent owners.

A key to turning the trick, said Christensen, will be public consultation.