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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A moratorium that banned new cabin development on Yellowknife-area lakes since late 2009 appears to be coming to an end.

According to a discussion paper released Monday by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA), 35 new lots are going to be released for recreational development on Jackson, Banting and Walsh lakes.

The document outlines department plans to release the parcels of land and explains the process through which the department came up with the number of new sites and their locations.

"That's why you don't see 100 or 150 new sites - that's what the science told us," said Beverly Chamberlain, director of land administration for MACA. "Based on the lakes and then incorporating all of the science from the models, that's the number of new sites that the lakes can comfortably manage. What we're hoping to do on the development side is trying to limit the human impact to the land."

The portion of the study that pertains to Yellowknife looks at a 1,696 hectare area that includes Walsh Lake, Jackson Lake, Banting Lake, Vee Lake and a portion of Prosperous Lake. This land is owned and managed by the territorial government and, historically, the area has been subject to a large amount of trespassing, officials said.

"One of the big drivers of trespassing is an imbalance of supply and demand for recreational use land," said Chamberlain. "So, we're really hoping that people will come forward and apply for a lease and (we're) hoping that making some new lots available will help us with our trespass problem."

There are no new sites proposed along the shore of Prosperous Lake because the Bluefish dam transmission line runs through the area.

"Also, it's very steep along in there, so it would be very difficult to develop it," said Chamberlain.

Nothing published in the report is final, Chamberlain stressed. It is meant to act as a starting point to inform residents of the government's findings.

MACA will be holding two public meeting sessions toward the end of January and the beginning of February, though dates for these meeting have not been set, Chamberlain said. The first meeting will be designed for existing lease holders and the second meeting will be for all interested parties. There are currently 68 recreational leaseholders and only a few unauthorized cabins remain in the area in question.

The goal of the entire project is to establish a framework to manage recreational use of Commissioner's Land across the territory.

"MACA needs to establish a fair and transparent way for people to acquire a lease on the proposed new sites, and set some guidelines to control development, like setting limits on the size of cabins and the number of out-buildings that can be placed on a recreational lot," states the paper, which is available for viewing on the department's website.

The department is asking residents for feedback on the discussion paper until Feb. 22, and hopes to have all new regulations set by June 30. However, there is no projected date as to when the new parcels of land will be available.

When the new land parcels do become available, they will likely be 20-year leases - the same deal that current leaseholders have with the territory.

"The price of a lease is dependent on how large the parcel is," said Chamberlain. "Right now we're leaning toward a 1,200-square-metre parcel."

Chamberlain said that the department is working on briefing all interested parties, including the Yellowknives Dene, on the study and the ongoing consultation process.

Representatives from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation declined to comment on the issue as of press time, explaining they have only just received the document and were in the process of reviewing it.

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