Mayor wants more housing
Mapes says subdivision of 150 to 200 lots needed for up to 1,000 new residents
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
HAY RIVER
Mayor Brad Mapes is seeing good things and more people in Hay River's future, and is raising a call for more housing.
Mayor Brad Mapes stands next to vacant land - just to the south of the Hay River Regional Health Centre - which he believes would be a good area for a new subdivision. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo
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In particular, Mapes is suggesting that a new subdivision of up to 200 lots be created in the community.
"It's on the verge of having some opportunities where our town could increase in size," he said. "One of the biggest issues that I see we have in our town right now is housing."
Mapes said he plans to soon bring some ideas to town council for a mass area development.
"We need 150 to 200 residential lots in our town that we can look at ways of developing residential land that will attract people to our community," he said.
The mayor is optimistic about the economic future of Hay River because of a number of developments in and near the community.
They include ongoing mineral exploration by Darnley Bay Resources Ltd. at Pine Point, efforts to revitalize the Great Slave Lake commercial fishery, stabilization of the barging sector when the GNWT bought the assets of Northern Transportation Company Ltd. (NTCL), farming and the creation of a wood pellet mill in Enterprise, which is a project Mapes himself is undertaking as a private businessman.
By his estimation, a growth spurt in a couple of years could see the population rise by 500 to 1,000 people.
Mapes said he wants to let prospective residents know that Hay River is a "happening" town.
"But we need to find places where we can accommodate them," he said.
It would take about two years to develop a subdivision.
"But we need to be proactive," said Mapes. "One of the issues that our town has is the fact that we need to be able to pay for land development. So I want to kind of pitch an idea to the council to figure out how we can lobby the GNWT and the federal government to understand our situation and look at some ways that we can do some long-term borrowing with them to figure out how we can get a new subdivision."
The mayor estimated the cost of a subdivision would be between $6 million and $10 million for 150 to 200 lots.
His suggestion is that land just south of the new Hay River Regional Health Centre be considered for a subdivision. That land was previously discussed as a possible subdivision of large lots.
Mapes noted there has also been talk in the past about a subdivision behind 553.
In addition, he said some land in Old Town can be developed for eight or nine lots.
Mapes said more people in the community would be good in a number of ways, such as more students in schools and more incentive for new businesses to start.
Hay River North MLA R.J. Simpson also sees more people in the town's future.
"I think there's a very good chance there's going to be population growth with the pellet mill, manufacturing opportunities and the project at Pine Point going forward," he said. "I think we're going to see a lot more economic activity in the next few years."
There are currently a lot of houses for sale, Simpson said, but more are necessary.
"We have a real problem with finding places to rent," he said. "Not only do we need new houses, we need more rental opportunities for people moving to town, young people who don't necessarily want to buy a house or can't afford to buy a house."
Simpson said he hears all the time from people coming to Hay River for temporary work who are shocked at how difficult it is to find somewhere to live.
In fact, he said he knows of people moving here for jobs and looking for suitable rental accommodations, but having to buy a place to live.
Simpson noted there are small pieces of land, such as Disneyland and the old hospital once long-term-care patients and the remaining workers move out, that could be developed for housing lots.
Plus, he said another option could be developing additional lots in Old Town.
"People love living in Old Town and there are some great lots down there that could be developed," the MLA said, noting that could require assistance from the GNWT in freeing up some lots it purchased from NTCL and the town putting some money into fixing and chipsealing roads.
Jane Groenewegen, the broker for Century 21 Greenway Realty in Hay River, said there are probably only a handful of vacant residential lots for sale or undeveloped.
"We have to be forward-thinking," she said, pointing to the economic stimulators of the GNWT taking over NTCL, the pellet mill at Enterprise and the Darnley Bay exploration activity in Pine Point. "I would say, when these things become active, I think that we do have to have options to offer people. And one of those options should be the ability to find the land and build a new home or buy a manufactured home."
Groenewegen, the former Hay River South MLA, said there are quite a few houses on the market right now, but the rental market is a little bit tighter.
