Yellowknife (May 21/04) - Mike Mrdjenovich's desire to change his building plans from a hotel beside Stanton hospital to an apartment block were put on hold by city council, Monday.

The president of Nova Builders surprised council earlier this month when he told them market research showed his company would be better off building apartments on the site.

He said there were already too many hotels in the city, although the project had been under construction for four months.

The original development permit for a hotel was approved by the city Jan. 26. The request to change his development to an apartment was made March 18. Mrdjenovich needs council to approve a zoning change from commercial to residential use.

At a Monday committee meeting, five of seven councillors said they didn't have enough information to put the matter on the agenda for a council vote.

"I don't think we should go forward with a first reading without looking at the footprint of the building," said Councillor Wendy Bisaro.

Some councillors complained that Mrdjenovich failed to request in writing how many units he wanted to build into the apartment.

When he appeared before council May 3, he told them he wanted to build an apartment with 77 dwelling units, but that number has since risen to 90.

There were also concerns about the number of parking stalls on the site, and increased traffic on the hospital's emergency access route.

Traffic up by 50 per cent

A traffic study by Dillon Consulting, who were hired by Mrdjenovich, found the intersection was the second busiest in Yellowknife, and traffic had increased by 50 per cent since Extra Foods opened last fall.

They predicted traffic would increase by another 40-60 per cent after the apartment is built, although public works director Greg Kehoe cautioned that the intersection would still be far below the maximum volume of traffic that it can handle. "I think we should be talking to the hospital," said Coun. Kevin O'Reilly, adding that he doesn't feel the development's neighbours had been properly notified of changes to Mrdjenovich's plans.

Tasha Stephenson, who appealed Nova's development permit earlier this year, told council that the city has put "itself over a barrel" by allowing Mrdjenovich to begin developing the lot but then change his mind.

When reached for comment, Mrdjenovich denied that he was trying to strong-arm the city into approving his change of plans.

He said he was forced to change when the banks told him he would have to put up half the $10 million up front to build the hotel.

He re-iterated an earlier charge that certain councillors and other "tree huggers" were deliberately putting up roadblocks every time he tries to build in the city.

"Mr. O'Reilly and his tree huggers, what can you do?" said Mrdjenovich.

Even though his plans are on hold for now, Mrdjenovich said he can wait.

"I got more patience than they do and bigger shoulders," he said.