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Battle over building on park land

Finlayson residents, developers square off

Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 28/03) - A battle is brewing between local developers and Finlayson Drive residents over a parcel of land they want spared from the bulldozer.

Block 551 -- on the corner of Kam Lake Road and Finlayson Drive -- was originally set aside by city council in 1995 for parks and recreation space but in today's climate of growing housing demands and skyrocketing rental costs, council is reconsidering.

It was standing room only at a public hearing Monday at City Hall regarding a proposed bylaw rezoning of the lot to residential use.

"These kind of bylaws are not a long-term solution," said Roy Ellis, past president of the Borealis Co-op on Finlayson Drive.

"They're a short-term Band-Aid approach to a problem that will cause more problems than they will solve in the long run.

"We certainly think the city has to develop but the question is how it develops?

"It has to develop in a way that is good for the long-term benefit of the city and its residents. It's to nobody's benefit to develop an ugly city."

Ellis and other residents want assurances that the city will leave green spaces between subdivisions, but is afraid if the bylaw is passed as is, developers will gobble up the entire lot.

Long-time Yellowknife resident Erik Watt said it would be a shame if the entire lot was developed because it decimate areas for local children and adults alike like to play and explore.

"There are too few areas of this city that are accessible to the public," said Watt. "Finlayson Drive is one of the prettier streets in town because it has that sort of uninterrupted feature to it."

Developers and realtors argued, however, that the lot is one of the best places in town to erect affordable homes -- something considerably lacking right now -- because it is a relatively level area, with water, electricity, and sewer infrastructure nearby and accordingly, would be inexpensive to develop.

"It's very difficult to find anything (homes) in town under $200,000," said mortgage broker Dave McPherson.

"The area is probably one of the last places in town where I can see affordable housing."

Coun. Dave McCann, who presided over the hearing as acting mayor, subsequently sent the matter back to administration to draft recommendations for the city's public services committee on what should be done with the lot.