Karin Kronstal, planner for the city, shows Yellowknifer an area behind the McMahon Frame Lake Trail, between Borden Drive and Acklands-Grainger on Old Airport Road, where the city is considering a new subdivision during a Sept. 29 bus tour of the city's capital area. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo |
Houses possible west of Frame Lake
Waterfront views and central location make area between Frame Lake Trail and Old Airport Road highly marketable, says director of planning and development
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, October 8, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A rocky outcrop on the western shore of Frame Lake behind Old Airport Road is the latest area on the city's long list of lands where a new subdivision is being considered.
Capital area revamp under discussion
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknifer went on a guided bus tour led by a city-planner, Sept. 29, that was conducted as part of an ongoing public consultation with an eye to revamping the city's capital area around Frame Lake.
The capital area's boundary, which encompasses a portion of land immediately surrounding Jackfish and Frame Lake includes important sites and landmarks such as the legislative assembly, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Northern Frontier Visitors Centre, city hall, Somba K'e Civic Plaza, McMahon Frame Lake Trail, Lakeview Cemetery and the Bristol Monument.
On top of plans to develop a residential/commercial area between the western shore of Frame Lake and Old Airport Road, the city also put forward plans to improve access for paddlers on Frame Lake.
During the tour, it was suggested that the small park adjacent to Acklands-Grangier on Old Airport Road could be used to build docks for canoes and kayaks.
Other proposed improvements to the capital area included cleaning up McNiven Beach, adding amenities around the Bristol Pit and building a new gas bar and restaurant and the foot of the Britsol Freighter Monument. |
Yellowknifer learned the city-owned area behind the McMahon Frame Lake Trail, between Borden Drive and Acklands-Grainger on Old Airport Road, could one day be adorned with houses and commercial buildings during a recent bus tour of the city's capital area.
"It's not that crazy to put houses up here because you'd have views of the water," said planner Karin Kronstal who led the tour.
Jeff Humble, director of planning and development, said plans to develop the land between the trail and the commercial area along Old Airport Road are still in the conceptual stages.
He said the city hopes to draw up preliminary designs for the area as early as the new year - after it receives input from a series of public consultations and the capital area committee, which includes the GNWT, the legislative assembly and organizations with property in the area.
"You can walk to the downtown from there, you can walk to the Co-op and some of the other stores there. It's, in my opinion, highly marketable from a commercial or residential perspective," said Humble.
Although no one showed up to the lunchtime session on Sept. 29, Kronstal said approximately 15 people had attended previous walking tours of the area and gave mixed feedback on the proposed development.
While some people were in favour of the development, their biggest concern was that there would have to be some kind of buffer between the trail and the lots, Kronstal said.
At least two councillors believe the land could be suitable for residential development depending on how the city plans to design the lots.
Coun. Adrian Bell said he would be open to transforming the area into a residential subdivision so long as the rocky terrain didn't make it cost prohibitive to build housing there and so long as it wasn't intended for multi-family units.
He said residents who want custom three-bedroom homes with a garage and a modest yard currently have nowhere to build and the western shore of Frame Lake would be an ideal location.
"Our needs for certain types of housing are currently being met in areas such as Block 501 and Grace Lake, but there are still some big gaps," wrote Bell in an e-mail to Yellowknifer.
"The proposed Taylor-to-Con-Road subdivision would have met the need (for custom three-bedroom homes), but we've been unable to get our hands on the land. So yes, if we can meet that need on the west side of Frame Lake, I'm prepared to have the discussion,"
Coun. Dan Wong, meanwhile, suggested a subdivision would make sense if it was geared toward building smaller homes on small lots.
"Most micro-home builders aren't looking to pay full price for full-size lots because tiny homes need less land and are less expensive to build," he told Yellowknifer in an e-mail.
Humble said the city has already received inquiries from both commercial and residential developers who have expressed an interest in expanding development in the area.
"We have people knocking on our door," said Humble.
Humble said the area, which is currently zoned growth management, could be rezoned to accommodate a mixture of uses including residential, commercial and parks and recreation.
The type of development that will be proposed for the area will depend on what comes out of the ongoing public consultation process, he said.
"It's pretty wide open in terms of what could happen there," he said.
Although the land being considered for development is currently owned by the city, any plans to build new residential and commercial infrastructure in the area would have to be approved by council, Humble said.
