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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
City councillor Cory Vanthuyne was the sole member to oppose two bylaws which will see the development of a Homes North subdivision at Coronation Drive and Kam Lake Road.

At a special meeting Monday, council voted 6-1 in favour of a long-negotiated development scheme and a series of zoning changes for the 315-unit Block 501 development. Coun. Mark Heyck was the only one of eight councillors absent.

The bylaws both passed second reading and are subject to approval by the minister of Municipal and Community Affairs before third reading. This week's approval came after two open houses over the last two weeks at city hall. Those meetings gave the public opportunities to learn about the development and express concerns.

Vanthuyne opposed the development scheme bylaw because he believes some of the expectations placed on developer Les Rocher - such as park and trail development investments, a sanitary sewage lift station, natural preservation and other infrastructure - will over-inflate the costs of homes for purchasers.

"There are a number of requirements in the bylaw that I have felt all along have been imposed on the developer that were precedent-setting in nature and these requirements were not expected from other (developers) in the past," he said.

"Quite frankly this will have a negative effect on the end cost of the product going to the citizen and thereby over-inflating the costs and affecting council's goal of affordability."

Most councillors, however, felt this was the best scheme that the city and Homes North could come up with after more than two years of negotiating and that it wasn't the time to reopen negotiations.

Rocher had requested a $3.8-million subsidy from the city last fall to cover the costs of fulfilling the city's infrastructure demands but it's now expected the developer will recoup losses with the sale of more medium-density, multifamily dwellings.

"There were many years of negotiations that had gone on through this and the parties had come to an agreement, but what is being proposed is living up to the current (full cost recovery bylaw) and planning process we have in place now," said Coun. Bob Brooks.

"Because the parties have come to a negotiated agreement, I will be supporting this."

Vanthuyne has always opposed the full cost recovery bylaw, which was initiated by the previous council, because it restricts the city from partnering with developers to establish city-owned infrastructure in residential developments.

Rocher's Block 501, a subdivision of mostly single detached housing, became one of the first projects which had to endure these changes and take on all costs required by the city bylaw.

Vanthuyne also opposed additional zoning density caps that were placed on R3 medium density residential lots in the development scheme bylaw. There are now four medium density lots in the subdivision; the sales of which are expected to cover the costs of the major amenities the city is requesting. But adding the new caps is a premature move in the development stage, devalues the land and may have implications on fitting future housing into the parcels, said Vanthuyne.

"Our current R3 zoning has a requirement that says how many units you can build per hectare, but what is outlined in the R3 zoning requirement getting passed by council (for Block 501) is that they want to add extra regulation to R3 zoning," he said.

He pointed to the 67.5-unit-per-hectare cap that is in place on a medium density portion near Kam Lake Road. Another 55-unit-per-hectare cap is on a medium density dwelling portion closest to the lake, he noted.

"It turns out to be a (128-unit) cap at the top and about 60-unit cap at the bottom, whereas our current zoning bylaw says 80 units per hectare. Thereby my argument is, why are we capping a zoning requirement that already has a cap?"

Planning and development director Jeff Humble said the final figure came from a number of meetings with the developer over the past year, which the zoning bylaw allows.

"We felt a compromise would be to lower the number of single-wide modular for some medium density residential, which is in line with our general plan," he said.

"But if we were to max out the medium density, we would be way above the roughly 100 to 120 units that were initially proposed (for the subdivision). So we felt that a compromise would be to allow the medium density be reduced to the single-wide modular and essentially mix the two."

Couns. Brooks and David Wind said they sympathized with some of Vanthuyne's arguments, however, it was important that what was put before council was negotiated and the public had an opportunity to express concerns.

"I agree with Brooks that this is a matter in which a developer has found an acceptable solution, albeit with some reluctance," said Wind.

"Otherwise this zoning proposal would not be coming forward. Since there has been negotiation between, it is not appropriate for council to change it on the fly and reopen negotiations."

Homes North manager Sandra McDaniel said the passing of the scheme will mean the "cracking open of Kam Lake" with a more formalized trail system and better access to parks and shoreline.

"We sure are happy and we are excited that we are starting a new neighbourhood," said McDaniel, adding that dealing with the multi-family lots will be "new territory" for the company.

"I can see the reasoning behind the multis and we are going to fulfill the end of that agreement," she said.

She said the company is currently building a road in the subdivision.

"After that, we can get access from either side and then trench it up and put in piping for water and sewer, "she said. "Bringing services into the lots will be the next thing."

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