HAY RIVER - It appears a long-running controversy about a vacant lot in Hay River is about to be solved.

In 2008, signs popped up in the Cameron Crescent area of Hay River opposing the proposed rezoning of a lot. - NNSL file photo

The Town of Hay River and the lot's owners - Jeff and Erin Griffiths - have agreed on a sale price by which the municipality will buy the property on Cameron Crescent.

"It is a signed agreement-in-principle," said Mayor Kelly Schofield, adding all the town has to do now is pass a land acquisition bylaw to make the sale legal.

The town offered the Griffiths $127,000 for the lot and they agreed. That is the lot's assessed value by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Council had voted in February to make the offer and set a deadline of March 4 for a response.

The .23-hectare lot was the subject of controversy in both 2004 and 2008 when the owners applied for rezoning from institutional to multi-family residential. Area residents opposed the rezoning, fearing a multi-family residential complex would be built in the neighbourhood of single-family units.

Council rejected rezoning both times.

There had been concern that the issue might arise once again.

The Griffiths could not be reached for comment.

Schofield said, once the sale is final, the town will look at rezoning the lot residential for single-family dwellings that fit into the existing neighbourhood.

"We will be developing that property and then selling that property," he said, noting the town is hoping three residential lots can be created.

The mayor said the lot won't be turned into a park, as some area residents had suggested in the past. He noted there is a park in the next crescent and nearby green spaces.

"So there's no more need for park space," he said. "There is a need for responsible development in Hay River and infilling is one of the mandates of responsible development. So that's where we're going with it."

Schofield expects the sale of the property and the town's plans will be acceptable to area residents, noting they were opposed to a multi-family building, but not to single-unit houses.

"We want the neighbourhood to stay the way it is," he said. "We just want to enhance it by adding a couple of more properties into that area."

Ron Karp, one of the most outspoken residents of the area, believes the purchase by the town will be acceptable to most homeowners in the area.

"It's the best thing that's happened in a long time," he said. "It's the best offer we've had so far."

However, Karp said many people would have preferred to see the lot become parkland.

Schofield said the town is actually hoping to turn a profit on the resale of the property.

Even if the town breaks even on the sale, it will get tax revenues from the properties once they're sold

Schofield said there is some concern that the purchase of the Cameron Crescent lot may set a precedent for other controversial properties in the future.

"You have to worry about that," he said. "You always have that at the back of your mind that that may cause issues down the road, but every decision that council makes might cause ripples in the water, so to speak."

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