by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 22/97) - The city is about to rezoning the massive parcel of territorial-owned land used by the airport.

At the airport's request the city is developing a brand new zoning designation to apply to the 566-hectare property.

The new designation, Airport Environs (A), allows a broad range of uses (see side bar). Airport manager Tom Cook said the main purpose of the new zoning is to clearly define what can and can't be done on the airport property.

"These are very specific uses and that makes it very easy for the city to see what's going on with the airport lands," said Cook.

The irregularly shaped airport property extends from Hwy 3, near the end of Long Lake, to Old Airport Road and behind Frame Lake subdivisions.

The vast majority of the airport lands are currently zoned Limited (L), a designation which allows airport and agricultural uses.

A memo from planning and lands introducing the rezoning request to adjacent residents states, "it was determined that the present land use zones could not suitably accommodate the type of use envisioned for the subject property."

Cook said no specific development plans have driven the rezoning proposal, though he added two new hangars are planned.

Cook said area residents need have no concern about commercial development on the strip of land that extends behind the subdivisions they occupy because it is an approach to one of the runways. "Nothing can be built on that area at all," he said.

Notification of the proposed rezoning circulated to a number of Old Airport Road businesses. None of the residential property owners in the area were notified.

The city's planning and lands department said the rezoning application will be reviewed by the capital area development program committee next month. The committee is composed of representatives from city hall and the territorial government.

After that, it will come before the city development committee and then council.