Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 29/05) - A marathon meeting and a bitterly divided city council witnessed the end to the Niven Lake rezoning debate, almost certainly destined for approval now that it has been pushed upstairs to the territorial government.

The council-led move to rezone Phase VI of the Niven Lake subdivision began last April after developer Homes North installed double-wide trailers on the site.

The city said the units violated the city's zoning bylaw and were placed there without approval from city planners.

Faced with a housing crunch, a majority of councillors felt that home buyers have waited long enough for the 92 lots of Phase VI to be developed, and hatched a plan to ensure the double-wides fit with the zoning bylaw.

Up until now, the zoning bylaw allowed for pre-manufactured homes on Phase VI but not those that could moved easily.

Much of the debate Monday was similar to what occurred during numerous council and committee meetings over the last two months, but no less inflammatory.

Coun. Kevin O'Reilly called the developer "intransigent" during debate over rulings from last week's public hearings into Phase VI.

His accusation drew a heated reaction from Couns. Doug Witty and Alan Woytuik, both of whom demanded O'Reilly retract his statement or be removed from the council chamber.

"That's unacceptable," said Witty.

When reached the next day, Homes North president Les Rocher said he didn't know what intransigent meant. City Hall staff themselves had to look it up Wednesday morning.

According to the Oxford dictionary, the word translates into one who is uncompromising. O'Reilly eventually retracted his statement.

Coun. Mark Heyck, who joined O'Reilly in voting against many of the 13 rulings presented to them, echoed a resident's complaint from the week prior, saying that nothing is as it appears when it comes to development in the city.

"Things always seem to change, and from my perspective that seems quite accurate," said Heyck.

He said council's move to rezone Phase VI was contrary to the spirit of the zoning bylaw, and the developer should've asked for the zoning change himself.

All the rulings heard Monday save for one came down against complaints made by residents during last week's public hearing.

Last week, council heard that the double-wides wouldn't provide affordable housing -- estimated at between $250,000 to $300,000, and would lower property values for neighbouring "stick-built" homes.