Yellowknife (Sep 05/03) - City council is finding itself between a rock and a hard place when the issue of zoning bylaws arise.

On one side are the land developers.

In a booming economy, Yellowknife needs homes for its residents. Developers find land they deem suitable for building and then go to work. They blast, they bulldoze, they remove trees to reach their goal of new neatly packed rows of houses.

On the other side of the issue are the existing residents.

These are the people who perhaps moved into a neighbourhood because of the treed lot at the end of the street, or because they like the unique outcrops of Precambrian shield rock around which the city is built.

In the middle of this brewing controversy is the city.

The municipal services committee recently decided unanimously that the way in which developers go about clearing land should be examined.

After hearing concerns from several individuals and representatives from Ecology North Tuesday, the committee decided the bylaw should be reviewed for future revision which would include a preference for natural landscaping.

As the bylaw now stands, a developer can totally alter an area and insert landscape afterwards, without thought for preservation.

Coun. Kevin O'Reilly agreed the bylaw needs a complete review.

"The work should not be allowed to begin before the (public) appeal process is complete," O'Reilly said.

"We should not allow hand drawn plans and we have to make sure the landscaping plans are certified."

Coun. Wendy Bisaro also voiced concerns about developments around the city, including the Niven subdivision area.

"There is lack of general development guidelines.

"They should amend the bylaw in totality,"she said of Bylaw 4024 which is in question.

While Coun. Ben McDonald said he, too, wanted an overview of the bylaw, he also had reservations about drastically changing the bylaw.

"We need to be careful because decisions could be costly," McDonald said.

"Are trees priorities over buildings?"

The issue will be further examined in city council.