Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 30/05) - A prominent Yellowknife family wants to know why the city is handing over land they leased for 18 years so the territorial government can build an RV park.

Jeannie Rocher, sitting near the grotto her father built at Rocking Horse Ranch, says city never told her about government plans for an RV park. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo

Jeannie Rocher told city council last Monday she was "angry and surprised" to learn that her family's attempts to renew a sublease for Rocking Horse Ranch fell through the cracks, while City Hall rushed through a bylaw to lease the land to the territorial government.

A bylaw to lease out the land was about to pass third and final reading when Rocher appeared at council. She said she only learned about it when a friend discovered that the bylaw was going up for first and seconding reading, July 25.

Rocher said her family was told several times by city officials - verbally and in writing - over the last couple years that they would be contacted once an environmental assessment of the property was complete. The notice never came.

"We've been misled, we've been lied to," said Rocher. "It's pretty simple."

The Rocking Horse Ranch, which sits at the edge of city limits on Highway 3, has had a troubled history since Rocher's dad, Johnny Rocher, ran afoul of the city's Planning and Lands division in 1998.

That fall, the city demanded the elder Rocher clear derelict vehicles, old appliances and other odds and ends he stored there after leasing the 40-acre property in 1987.

The land is owned by the territorial government, but the city holds a 30-year lease which expires in 2014.

In November 1998, Rocher was given a notice from the city that his sublease was being cancelled. He took the city to court but lost.

In the meantime, the family cleared the property at a cost estimated by Jeannie at more than $200,000, and continued to pay the property taxes until March of this year.

Property taxes returned

The taxes - totalling $10,314 dating back to 2002 - were returned without explanation in April. The city told the Rochers in October 2003 and March 2004 that they would be contacted about the future of the land.

Instead, council accepted a recommendation on July 18 to turn over the lease to the territorial government for an RV park, even though up to that point the government was still considering another parcel of land.

The government issued a Request for Proposals for geotechnical work at the ranch, even though the lease had yet to be approved by council. It closed Aug. 29. According to Yellowknife's land administration bylaw, when the city wants to sell or lease land it has to be done either by ballot draw, advertisement, through a real estate agent, a call for development proposals, or a public tender.

The exception is when the city wants to sell or lease land to the federal or territorial government.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said he doesn't know why the 10-year-old bylaw is written that way, but he added the process is still public because citizens can still intervene when it reaches the bylaw stage.

In a rare move Monday night, council sent the bylaw back to committee after hearing Rocher's complaint. Coun. Kevin O'Reilly was the only councillor to vote against the motion.

Van Tighem said himself and council will want to find out why the Rochers weren't given an opportunity to re-acquire the lease.

"I have no idea," said Van Tighem.

"You're dealing with two different processes - one administrative, and one was legislative. They've seemed to have missed each other at the intersection."

Rocher said the family intends to keep fighting for the land. "To put this much money and energy into it, why would we walk away no?" said Rocher. "This should be our lease."