Yellowknife (Nov 22/06) - New council members were cautious Monday at their committee meeting when discussing whether the city should become the main developer of Phase 7 of the Niven Lake development.

This is the proposed outline of the new Phase 7 development at Niven Lake. Council must decide if it wants to be the main developer, and whether a bylaw should be changed to allow more affordable houses to be developed there. Click here for large picture

"My major concern is that this will probably be the biggest development that will happen in our time on council," said newly-elected Coun. Kevin Kennedy.

"I'm just not comfortable with moving quickly on it. I know there are time constraints, but I'm not keen to see this just roll forward."

The plan for Phase 7 is to have detached, duplex, multi-attached and multi-family homes in the area. Three parks will also be part of the plan.

At the committee meeting Monday afternoon, councillors discussed whether the city should become the main developer of the new phase at Niven Lake.

They also debated whether they should amend bylaw 4339 to allow lower-priced houses into the scheme.

When the Niven Lake subdivision was first envisioned in 1995, the idea was to have a neighbourhood of high-end stick-built houses.

Over the years, city council changed direction, allowing different types of lower-cost homes into the plans, to the annoyance of the original home owners in the area.

A city report states that at a public session on Oct. 3, the majority of the people that filled out a questionnaire wanted the city to become the main developer of Phase 7.

On Monday, new Coun. Shelagh Montgomery also expressed hesitation over the city becoming the main developer without knowing some of the details on what it takes to develop an area.

"I think the development of this area should go back to the committee for further review," she said.

"I see no reason why the public consultation shouldn't continue," she added.

Rookie Coun. Paul Falvo also was skeptical about the city acting as the primary developer without having further feedback from the public.

"My sense of the meeting (on Oct. 3) was that there were a lot of unhappy people," he said. "I wasn't personally convinced Phase 7 is a great idea. We're suggesting putting a small amount of people into a large area."

Coun. David Wind, new to council, said he liked what he saw on the development project, particularly the amount of green space as he reviewed a map pinned to a wall.

"I like the approach the city is taking over the development of the area and to sell off lots," Wind said, adding that he was happy that more affordable housing will be a part of the new project.

When the Niven Lake development began in 1995, the city was in partnership with four private developers.

By 1999, the partners asked to get out of the deal due to poor sales.

When the city became the main developer, problems ensued.

It borrowed $3.1 million from the territorial government to buy out its four partners in 2000.

In 2003, a Niven resident won a court decision to stop development of a cul-de-sac and repositioning of a park through Phase 6.

Last year, council changed its zoning bylaw to allow the private developer of phase 6 to bring in modular homes, a move that a city development officer initially denied.