Yellowknife (Apr 20/05) - Yellowknife's housing crunch continues unabated while yet another summer construction season threatens to go by with no homes built in Phase VI of the Niven Lake subdivision.

City Hall issued a stop-work order on Phase VI of the Niven Lake subdivision two weeks ago. Officials think the homes don't meet the city's bylaw definition of modular homes.

Questions over the type of foundation used in four modular homes shipped in by Homes North last month has resulted in another stop-work order on the development.

Homes North has been trying to develop the 100-lot site for more than 18 months, but the project has been bogged down since early last year when neighbours filed a development appeal that took months to settle.

The latest stop-work order was issued 16 days ago after City Hall officials decided the new homes didn't fit bylaw requirements for modular homes, for which the site is zoned.

City councillor Bob Brooks said it may be another two or three months before Homes North can begin work again.

"It's costing us, the fact that our residents don't have affordable housing to move into," said Brooks.

"As far as I'm concerned this is an emergency situation we have to fix as soon as possible."

Homes North estimates the purchase price for the homes at between $250,000 and $300,000 each, depending on what extras the buyer wants added.

Brooks moved a motion at a council committee meeting Monday, calling on City Hall's administration to put forward options council hopes will untangle the red tape, and make the Homes North pre-manufactured houses legal under the city's zoning bylaw.

The zoning bylaw states that a modular home is a prefabricated building frame that comes in sections. It is no longer one if it contains "wheels or chassis" on its foundation, and is designed to be moved from one location to another - essentially a trailer unit.

But Homes North argues that its steel-framed houses are certified modular homes under the National Building Code, and that the city bylaw is out of step with zoning requirements in other jurisdictions.

"There's no question these buildings are relocatable, but so are most buildings," said Kevin Hodgins of FSC Architects and Engineers, consultants working for Homes North, during a special committee meeting Friday.

"These are not built to be moved numerous times."

Brooks said he expects administration to present at least three options to council: designate the homes as "similar use" to what the city already considers modular homes; re-zone Phase VI from R2 residential to site specific zoning; or update the bylaw's interpretation of a modular home.

Regardless, none of the options will likely get the project moving any time soon, said Brooks.

"You can't fault administration for adhering to the regulations we have in place," said Brooks.

"It's whether there needs to be changes or not, but we're talking prematurely because we haven't seen the options yet."

Real estate agent Rod Stirling, warned city council Friday, that people are starting think twice about moving to Yellowknife because other than apartments and luxury homes, the housing market is threadbare.

Stirling said market estimates show 500-600 people coming to work in Yellowknife over the next few years.

"If you're selling right now you're doing a bit of a jig," said Stirling. If you're buying it's pretty frustrating."

City officials monitoring the Phase VI project did not return phone calls. When reached for comment, Homes North president Les Rocher declined.