SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A number of Yellowknife homeowners are outraged over a scheme by Yellowknife's largest landlord's to put up condos and another apartment building at the nearby Shaganappy and Ptarmigan apartment complex.

"Not in my backyard" was the resounding message to representatives of NPR Limited Partnership, formerly Northern Properties REIT, Tuesday evening at a public consultation meeting in the Multiplex. The proposed development is near 54 Street and Con Road, which is lined primarily with stick-built homes.

"It's all to your benefit and not to the neighbourhood's," said one resident who asked not to be named. "Stay out of our backyards."

The idea, for which the property management company has submitted a development permit application to the city, is to build a 28-unit apartment building and five six-plex units on the site around Ptarmigan and Shaganappy apartments.

Tempers rose among homeowners on Rycon Road when they realized the new apartment building would have balconies overlooking their backyards.

"There goes our privacy," said one resident, who was also concerned about how the new development would affect traffic in the area.

Although the two-and-a-half-hour meeting was held to address concerns about the development, residents also took the opportunity to express their frustration with NPR's approach to consultation.

"Not every resident was advised – that's not a total consultation," said an angry resident. "It's not very transparent. We're feeling people are not being honest with us. It didn't start out very honest."

Select residents in the surrounding area were notified of the development through a registered letter that said they were invited to "a public consultation with all concerned parties and individuals for ... the residential redevelopment of the Ptarmigan and Shagannapy (apartments)."

A public consultation meeting is required by the city to obtain a development permit for large projects.

Herold Andrejek, who has lived within a three-block radius of Ptarmigan Apartments his whole life and has owned a house on 54 Street since 1992, said judging by the letter he thought the plan was to improve the existing buildings – a project he would happily support.

"Clean it up and don't add to it," he told members of NPR and the city.

With the lack of information in the letter, residents said they felt they weren't able to provide all of their concerns during the consultation. So, the group requested more information and another meeting.

Nalini Naidoo, manager of planning and lands for the city and a resident of the area, stepped in to facilitate the meeting when tempers started getting out of control. With her help, the group received a commitment from NPR that the development permit application submitted to the city would be posted on the NPR website by May 16 and another consultation would be held June 15.

"It better be on your website or these people are going to be after me," Naidoo said with a laugh.

The company bought the Shaganappy and Ptarmigan apartment buildings, and the land surrounding them, last April with the intention of cleaning them up and adding more housing, said Bo Rasmussen, NPR construction manager. There are currently 100 units in the two existing apartment buildings. The new development would add 58 units.

Andrejek said his concern is what will happen to his neighbourhood – a neighbourhood that already deals with a slew of emergency vehicles and rowdy people going to and from the existing apartments. He thinks those problems will only be exacerbated by added units.

"You're looking at profit. You're not looking at making a good neighbourhood," he said to representatives of NPR.

Rasmussen said the company bought the buildings in hopes of cleaning them up, a project that is already underway. He said new railings have already been installed on the balconies of the existing apartments and work is being done to the interior.

"We are definitely going to make it more beautiful," he said.

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