Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (June 21/02) - There was some hot debate last week in town council chambers over proposals to rezone two areas of town.

A public hearing was held before council debated on a proposal to rezone some land on Locheux Road and Ptarmigan Hill. The proposal would rezone the land from community use to R-2 medium density.

Property owner Ron Morrison was vehemently opposed to the R-2 or any rezoning of the land.

He said they built their house on Ptarmigan Hill as it "was supposed to be a quiet neighbourhood."

He said recent developments on the hill have brought all kinds of problems including traffic, dogs and dust.

"We can't open our doors, we can't open our windows and my wife has to work constantly to keep the dust out of the house," he said.

"We've waited and waited for the town to fix that road and they haven't; we've not seen a bylaw officer for years; there are dogs running loose in that area, but we put up with it," Morrison fumed. "We put up with all of that because we have a nice yard and a nice view of the town."

"Then I woke up one morning and there was a 50-suite apartment building down my road," he said. "The only advantage to that is now I have RCMP officers up near my place on a daily basis, but they just whiz past my place and create more dust."

He closed in asking council to reconsider and that there are many other areas of town can be rezoned.

Neighbour Lois Harwood echoed Morrison's complaints.

Bertha Allen was also opposed to the development saying that traffic at "all hours of the night" makes it hard to get a proper night's rest and the town should not be developing green spaces.

Councillors Denny Rogers and Vince Sharpe sympathized with the residents, but said the town needs room to grow and has already gone to the expense of running the utilidor to that area.

Council was split on the vote, with councillors Sharpe, Craik and Rogers voting in favour and councillors Doolittle, Wood and Deputy Mayor Hansen opposed. Mayor Peter Clarkson broke the tie by also opposing.

Family hall

Council was presented with an application to rezone the land where small and large family halls are located.

Eddie Lavoie spoke on behalf of the local Catholic church, which he says is experiencing financial hardships and wishes to either sell or lease the land, but feels it would be easier if the land was rezoned to community from commercial.

"Basically the parish is on the verge of being broke," Lavoie said. "We have no money to maintain or repair these buildings."

"They are both in desperate need of a lot of repair; the roofs are leaking at both the large family hall and the small family hall," he said.

The church is also in need of repair and Lavoie said any money the parish has should be used on the church.

There was some question whether the property might be sold or re-sold to someone who might open a bar or other business that might be deemed unsuitable for the area.

Mayor Clarkson said he has talked with Inuvialuit and Gwich'in groups who would like to work something out with the church and town, where a museum or cultural centre could be built there.

"I think the timing is right for this," he said.

Town manager Jerry Veltman said a caveat could be attached to the land title that would prevent any sale conditional to council's approval.

In a recorded vote, councillors Wood, Craik, Rogers and Sharpe voted in favour of rezoning, while Coun. Doolittle was opposed. Deputy Mayor Hansen abstained.