Yellowknife (May 17/04) - There is some good news for people waiting to build homes in Iqaluit.

City council has approved the development of 10 new residential lots -- one for an apartment and the rest for multi-unit housing.

Planner Michele Bertol said five of the lots are left over from the Lake Subdivision and the others are spread throughout the city.

She said they hope to have the sites ready for construction by the summer. "Now that administration has approval from council, we can move forward with the planning and development," she said.

Coun. Nancy Gillis, chairperson of engineering and planning committee, said the 10 new lots will relieve some of the development pressure.

Still, developing another 15 lots in Apex was rejected by council.

"We're trying to get away from truck water and sewer, which is why council voted against it," she said. "But now people aren't allowed to develop in Apex and they want to."

People looking for single-family houses will have to wait until 2005. "There is some need for single family housing," Gillis said. "Multi-housing development is a better use of the land." The city is developing plans to create a new subdivision in area "A," north of Arctic College in time for building in 2005.