Hagel Drive housing heads to development appeal board

A four-storey, 24-unit apartment building planned for Yellowknife’s Hagel Drive has been referred to the development appeal board after one resident lodged an appeal.

Meanwhile, the City of Yellowknife said it was “working through our by-laws and legislated authority to address the situation” after people living near Hagel Drive said work was continuing at the site without a development permit.

Calling the issue “a legal matter,” the city said it would not comment further.

Developer Milan Mrdjenovich told Cabin Radio workers at the site were preparing the site and not “doing anything illegal.”

“I’ve consulted my legal team and as long as we aren’t ‘erecting’ or ‘constructing’ the building, we are good. We are pre-drilling our pile holes, so that when the appeal is thrown out, we can drop the pipe in the ground and begin,” Mrdjenovich said.

“We aren’t doing anything wrong yet. It’s just NIMBYs and people that like to complain.”

One resident living near the site shared a video of the construction work, adding: “No warning that they were doing this and now the inside of my home is covered in dust.”

The resident said city officials had “come already multiple times today to shut them down and then they continue.”

Hearing on June 4

Last month, city councillors ruled the development’s proposed 24 units could be built after a query about the relevant legislation. The development met zoning bylaw and community plan requirements but proposed more units on the lot than the Niven Lake Development Scheme allowed under a previous bylaw.

But the issuance of a development permit following that council decision still came with a legislated period attached during which residents could appeal.

One resident did so, triggering a public hearing that will take place on the evening of June 4 at City Hall.

The resident sets out six reasons for their appeal, alleging:

• council reached the wrong conclusion about how to handle the Niven Lake Development Scheme’s provisions;
• the city hasn’t properly defined density;
• Yellowknife’s community plan is incomplete;
• the development doesn’t provide enough recreational space;
• impacts on traffic haven’t been sufficiently studied; and
• the street and sidewalk layout leading to the development hasn’t been clearly defined.

Yellowknife is no stranger to development appeal board hearings regarding new housing developments. There have been seven since August 2020, almost all of them involving developments led by Mrdjenovich.

This one is unusual in that city council itself issued the development permit, a situation brought about when fleeting city manager John Collin recommended that council step in to “ensure transparency in the decision-making instead of simply a development officer’s decision.”

Normally, the permits queried at appeal board hearings have been issued by individual city staff, not council.

In its response to the resident’s appeal, the City of Yellowknife says the resident’s first argument leads to “absurdity,” asserts that the density issue isn’t one the appeal board is empowered to consider, and does not refer to the other concerns raised.

Mrdjenovich said the appeal was “extremely frustrating,” adding he had sought a development permit almost a full year ago and the delay was eating into the summer construction season.

Equally, he said, another appeal was “pretty standard at this point.”

The development permit for the complex is on hold until the appeal board reaches a verdict.

The independent board can decide to either confirm the permit as it stands, reverse it or change it.