Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 20/06) - A secret development permit application has some city councillors worried a free-for-all will take place at the Yellowknife Airport unless zoning rules are tightened.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem and an official with the territorial government's airports division refuse to say what the application is for, or which company is requesting it.

Coun. Doug Witty worries that it may not have much to do with air transport.

He pointed to a number of commercial and industrial applications for airport property in recent years that he said should never have been approved by city development officers.

They include three diamond polishing plants and the bottle recycling depot that was built just inside the airport's boundaries on Old Airport Road last fall.

"(The bottle depot) doesn't meet the intended zoning for the airport property," said Witty.

"The airport authority is in the business of running an airport, not an industrial park."

It's unfair to allow non-air transport related businesses into the airport zone because land there is cheaper than in other commercial and industrial zones within the city, said Witty.

The issue came to a head at a council committee meeting, Monday. The airport zone carries specific zoning regulations meant to limit development to air transport companies for the most part.

But administration told council that development officers are having a problem saying no to development permits for airport property because the rules were loosened to allowed the polishing plants to go through in the late 1990s.

That prompted a request that council order a review of that portion of the zoning bylaw.

Coun. Alan Woytuik said the airports division wants to develop more land so it can "increase its revenue stream."

"There's a whole whack of land sitting there not being utilized," said Witty.

"They want to develop it and lease it out. The argument is, 'well that's fine, but what kind of businesses are going to go in there?'"

Van Tighem said the airport wanted the bylaw review so it could get clarification from the city on what sort of development is allowed at the airport in order to come up with a 50-year plan for the site.

The city is experiencing an overall shortage of land for industrial use, and airport land could provide some relief.

"If you put your marketing hat on as an airport person, you can see an opportunity to market some industrial land right now," said Van Tighem.

"What they're looking for is some clarification on what industries can go in there, because if they start to fill up the airport then their 50-year plan goes caca, and you end up like Kam Lake where people move into their warehouse or whatever."

Van Tighem said he can't discuss the application request until a development permit has been approved. After that, it will undergo the normal two-week appeal period that all development permits go through, he said.

Marvin Zaozirny, director of airports, acknowledged that one of their tenants is seeking development and building permits for a project that is "non-aviation" in use "but has a connection to aviation."

He said his department supports the proponent's plans, and would like to develop more land in the airport zone.

"One of things we would like to do in leasing airport lands is promote industry," said Zaozirny.

"It means jobs, it means new services and products for Northerners and Yellowknifers."

As for the bottle depot, manager Travis Thiessen said its location makes sense. The depot shares space with Northwest Transport, who truck the depot's empty beverage containers south.

"If you got a pallet full of beer bottles it just goes right onto the trailer," said Thiessen.

"Once the trailer's full they haul it away."