Cindy MacDougall
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 21/00) - The final draft of the city's new zoning bylaw has stirred up an ongoing controversy over a proposed lodge on the shores of Back Bay.

About half a dozen Back Bay residents attended a public hearing on the bylaw at City Hall Monday evening, including Vaughn del Valle, who wants to build an upscale, 48-room lodge on his isolated Back Bay plot.

His neighbours do not want anything to do with the lodge.

For half an hour, del Valle listed the reasons why the draft bylaw discriminates against him as a citizen and a businessman.

Del Valle's isolated plot of land, which curves along Back Bay, will be rezoned as Residential 5 (R5) from its current R-1B zoning once the bylaw takes effect.

He argued the change would devastate his property's equity and value and destroy his plans to build a 48-room lodge.

"We did not request the zoning change, the city did. We did not propose a zoning that did not exist in the neighbourhood, the city did," del Valle said.

An R5 zoning would make it impossible for del Valle to build a commercial lodge on his property.

"We simply request equal treatment," he said, since several other lots in the Back Bay area have been classed OM, which allows business development.

"Traffic coming to and from our property must travel through Peace River Flats (the Back Bay neighbourhood), but the same is true of traffic to these OM zoned properties," del Valle said.

Jamie Bastedo and Lois Little spoke on behalf of the Back Bay Community Association, which has opposed del Valle's lodge plan from the start.

Bastedo presented a petition to city council which opposed del Valle's lodge, signed by over 90 per cent of the households in the neighbourhood.

He said the draft zoning would protect the neighbourhood's unique qualities.

"We have nothing against the fellow, but the proposal boils down to a question of scale," he said. "It's a huge imprint that would have huge implications for the streets."

Bastedo also said the community association was concerned about preserving Back Bay as a place for wildlife and open to the general public.

"It would affect the waterfront, the bay itself, and that's a physical footprint," Bastedo said.

Del Valle rebutted by saying the public was destroying Back Bay, upsetting nesting birds and strewing garbage in the water.

Bastedo said the association is not holding a grudge against del Valle.

"We're all rooting for the guy. We're hoping he'll find the proper funding and location where he can fulfil his dreams."

City councillors only asked questions at the meeting, and will discuss the final draft at a regular council meeting later in the winter.

Mayor David Lovell later said the meeting's significance may have been in its one-track focus.

"This bylaw affects the entire city, and only one piece of property was discussed," he said.