City earmarks five Gitzel Street lots for new multi-family builds

The City of Yellowknife is looking to turn five vacant lots on Gitzel Street into duplexes, fourplexes or sixplexes.

The proposal, which is not yet finalized, will come before a council committee at lunchtime on Tuesday.

Council permission is needed to rezone the city-owned lots – which have been empty for decades – from their current “parks and recreation” status to a recently created zone known as “residential intensification.”

Developing the lots is a continuation of the city’s approach to filling in empty blocks in or near Yellowknife’s downtown to help ease an ongoing housing shortage.

Agenda documents for Tuesday’s meeting show nine households have written to the city expressing varying degrees of concern at the proposal.

A public hearing would be required before any zone change can take effect.

“As part of the city’s intensification strategy to address the local housing crisis, the city has undertaken an initiative to develop underutilized, developable and surplus city‐owned lands,” a briefing note for councillors states.

“In line with this effort, the subject lands have been identified for multi‐unit residential development, contributing to moderate intensification along Gitzel Street and Matonabee Street.”

At the moment, the vacant lots are mostly bordered by single-family homes. There are some townhomes a little way to the west and the Aven Pavilion seniors’ facility – itself recently built – lies to the south.

The city says the lots are an opportunity “for moderate intensification” because they are within walking distance of various amenities and the downtown core.

“The lot sizes and building heights will remain comparable to existing single-detached lots, ensuring the new development aligns with the character of the surrounding neighbourhood,” city staff state in their briefing note to council.

‘Not in the imagined usage’

For years, the City of Yellowknife has pursued a policy of driving more development within built-up areas.

At the start of April, the city issued a fresh statement outlining what the municipality calls its “intensification first” strategy. A briefing for reporters on the city’s approach is planned for Tuesday afternoon.

The city’s position is that intensification is the best use of its available land. City staff say filling holes in or near the downtown allows more people to live in spaces already served by the likes of roads and pipes, meaning more tax revenue, no major new spend on infrastructure, and a net benefit for taxpayers while new homes are created.

A portion of the Gitzel Street land was recently transferred from the NWT government to the city, which may have played a role in the city’s decision to now look at opening up the lots. The city also believes new homebuilding incentives can help drive development of the area.

“With nearly one percent of developable city-owned vacant lots available for residential development, the subject lands are among the few readily available sites within the city,” the city told councillors in its briefing note.

However, near neighbours who wrote to the city expressed a range of concerns.

“We always knew that the lots in question would someday be used for residential development but, as you can understand from our viewpoint, four and sixplex buildings were not in the imagined usage given the area is made up of single-family homes,” one household wrote.

Multiple households asked the city why empty downtown blocks were not being targeted for development first. In notes responding to that question, city staff suggested the Gitzel Street lots are under city control and essentially ready to go, whereas some downtown lots are privately owned.

Some households requested that development be limited to the likes of duplexes rather than buildings that could hold up to six families each.

“We would likely have not bought our house if we knew five sixplexes would be developed across the street from us,” one household wrote.

“If the city wants to encourage people to live near downtown then the city should consider what attracts people to those areas and what perks, like green spaces, can make up for the increased noise and increase in drunken foot traffic that comes from living close to downtown.”

One household raised concern about alleyway access and usage, while others worried about the prospect of blasting. The city, responding, said only “minor blasting may be required.”