Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 29/05) - A swarm of residents descended on City Hall last Thursday, demanding their elected leaders go back to the drawing board with plans to develop greenspace within the city.

A full-capacity crowd of more than 70 people cheered as one presenter after another blasted city council for a residential growth study many said was flawed and ought to be scrapped.

Walt Humphries: "Tired of coming here every two or three years to defend greenspaces."

"The residential growth study was poorly planned and executed, and has no public support," said Andrea Markowski.

"It needs to be set aside."

The report, which was already panned by a group of 175 residents at a public consultation meeting June 8, looked at 15 areas for possible development in and around the city.

Residents complained that the city-authored report failed to include other sites considered "greenspace," and focused too heavily on smaller, undeveloped lots within built-up areas and ignored larger pieces of land that aren't part of existing neighbourhoods.

Many also said the report was a failure because it didn't include any plans for vacant private lands in the city.

Several residents of the Diamond Ridge Condominium insisted adjacent lands that received the highest score for future development ought to be left alone because there are few areas nearby where children can play.

In contrast, the largest sites identified in the report - several forested areas along Taylor Road - received the lowest score for development potential. The city wants to sell the land. Diamond Ridge board member Dale Thomson offered council $1 for an adjacent property known as Site 4 "to leave it" be.

"What you're asking for is us to put up or shut up," said Thomson.

City council is considering a three-year option plan starting with the development of the long ago cleared Bartam Trailer Court on School Draw Avenue and the completion of the Niven Lake subdivision -- both of which residents say were poorly planned to begin with.

Walt Humphries, sporting a black arm band, told council he is "tired of coming here every two or three years to defend greenspaces."

He brought with him a flag he had made, which he said the city ought to adopt. It shows Niven Lake surrounded by rocks, trees, and an ominous looking black sky he said represented "Mother Nature mourning what they're doing to the dump."

City counc. Blake Lyons reminded Humphries that the city must hold public hearings before any land is rezoned, but that didn't impress him.

"There has to be a public hearing first but you can sneak these things through when we're asleep at the wheel," said Humphries.

The report-bashing went on so long that council hardly had any time left to discuss it themselves. Mayor Gord Van Tighem later decided to renew debate on July 11.