Christine Kay
Northern News Services

Iqaluit, NU (Sep 23/02) - Kenn Harper, vice president of NewNorth Projects Ltd., wants his company's money back.

He's angry council rejected NewNorth's plans for an apartment/office complex across the street from the Legislative Assembly.

On Sept. 18, he said NewNorth Projects was in the midst of preparing a statement of claim against the City of Iqaluit.

It's believed the company paid $25,000 for a building permit and another $10,000 for a study required by the city.

Harper took his complaint to city council Sept. 12.

"We have over the course of the summer been assessing the extent of our damages. We've been damaged," said Harper.

The building would have held 48 apartment units and 16,000 square feet of office space.

Council rejected the project on June 25, saying it didn't meet community guidelines.

"This was a massive building which detracted from the downtown core and would have overpowered the legislative building," said councillor Keith Irving.

Irving also stated design guidelines for the city are clearly lined out in a secondary document to the zoning bylaw.

The guidelines resulted from a community consultation held in 1998.