Yellowknife (July 16/04) - Niven Lake resident Adrian Boyd is putting city council on notice.

He said there will be a lot of eyes watching council from now on when it comes to decisions on development in the city, and they won't just belong to the city's still unborn bylaw review committee.

Adrian Boyd and his wife Ann Timmins enjoy the view from their Niven Lake home. Boyd said it may not last for long once Phase 6 begins to dot the horizon with more homes. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo

Boyd said ever since his unsuccessful appeal of the development permit for Phase 6 of the Niven Lake subdivision one month ago, neighbours and other residents have been coming forward to offer their support.

He is now gathering names for a new residents' watchdog group, tentatively titled Yellowknife Citizens for Responsible Development.

"There is a large population in Yellowknife that's concerned with what's happening in terms of development in this city," said Boyd.

"I think if council is not going to represent us, then it's time that we represent ourselves."

Boyd said he knows a thing or two about municipal planning himself, and what he sees isn't right. He is currently employed as the senior advisor to the Nunavut Planning Commission. He is also the federal representative to the Deh Cho land use planning committee. He even worked at one time as a lands officer with the City of Yellowknife.

Profit over beauty

From his observations, city council routinely bases its decisions for development on profit rather than making the city a more beautiful place to live.

Moreover, when provisions under the zoning bylaw get in the way, they're simply ignored, he said.

"If they can sell a piece of land and then recoup maximum tax revenues, then they have economic growth and they're doing what they think is best," said Boyd.

"That's all well and fine, but you also have to balance maximum profits with quality of life, and that's what's missing here."

Boyd is also planning an appeal to the NWT Supreme Court of the development appeal board's decision to uphold the permit for Phase 6 across the lake from his house. He said the board should have thrown the permit back to the city because a development officer overstepped his authority by allowing changes to the development scheme to occur without council approval.

Those changes included an additional cul-de-sac and lots for development in what was supposed to be a parks and recreation area.

"They watered down and minimized the authority of the development scheme and zoning bylaw, is what they did," said Boyd.

Coun. Wendy Bisaro said the watchdog group is news to her, but recognized there are loopholes in the city's zoning bylaw, which have been a source of frustration for some residents.

"We need to know more about what's going on before we issue a development permit," said Bisaro. "There's difficulties in the manner in which developments are communicated to the public in general."

May ease the process

Coun. David McCann said he hopes the bylaw review committee will help ease public frustration over the development process once it's up and running sometime over the next couple of months.

"The arrival of this group may be opportune at this time to address some of the issues in a broader fashion," said McCann.

"I think part of the problem is, that as politicians, we're trying to balance all these various forces."

Boyd, however, doubts the committee will be effective because it won't be at arms length from the city, and will represent a hodge-podge of competing interests without necessarily understanding the process.

"I think the committee should be selected based on experience as opposed to pigeon-holing types of individuals," said Boyd. "Zoning bylaws are very complex legal documents."