Larga applies to build 75-room lodge on Yellowknife’s Borden Drive

Larga Kitikmeot has asked the City of Yellowknife for permission to build a four-storey, 75-room medical travel lodge near the end of a largely residential street.

Larga wants to build at 346 Borden Drive, where an industrial and commercial zone – featuring a Mary Brown’s restaurant as a neighbour – gradually gives way to the homes of streets like Jeske Crescent.

City staff are recommending that council approve a “discretionary use” request associated with the application, saying the land is “within the Old Airport Road commercial corridor that is designated for a variety of uses.”

The city says building a medical travel lodge on the vacant site meets a range of planning objectives.

The lodge would serve people travelling to Yellowknife from Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region for medical treatment.

“This proposed development will provide accommodation in a culturally appropriate manner for Inuit, which is an opportunity for the city to strengthen relations with Indigenous communities,” the city stated in a briefing note for councillors.

Thirteen letters were received from the public regarding the proposal, the city said – all of them in opposition.

‘A hotel is unsuitable’

Residents of Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak, Cambridge Bay, Kugaaruk and Kugluktuk are usually the patients who make use of Larga’s facilities when on medical travel.

In a letter to the city in February, Larga Kitikmeot said the number of medical travel referrals had “grown to exceed” the capacity of its existing Yellowknife lodge, “causing us to rely on local hotels to accommodate overflow for the past several years.”

Larga said some guests are in and out in the space of one night, while others might need a room for up to eight weeks if, for example, they are having a baby in the city. Some months see more than 700 people use its rooms, Larga wrote.

“Larga Kitikmeot will sometimes provide services for 140 guests a night so will need a new facility large enough to ensure all Kitikmeot guests are under one roof and receiving the support and care they require while away from their home community,” the group added.

Larga said the lodge would operate quiet hours from 10pm till 7am daily, most guests won’t have a vehicle on site, and security would be at the site around the clock.

A series of residents sending similarly worded letters, however, expressed “strong opposition” to the plan.

“Introducing a hotel would severely disrupt the quiet and community‐oriented nature of the area,” they wrote, expressing concerns about traffic, parking, and a negative impact on “the view and feel of the neighbourhood” if a medical travel lodge is built.

“While a hotel is unsuitable, I believe a small, locally owned restaurant or business would be far more compatible,” some of the letters went on to state.

“It would be like putting a house or an apartment building across from the SPCA,” one resident wrote.

Multiple residents suggested crime could be a factor.

“While it may be difficult to quantify, the arrival of individuals unfamiliar to the area – many of whom may be in vulnerable states – can raise concerns among residents about safety and crime, especially in a community that has historically enjoyed a low crime rate,” two letters stated.

City staff said they noted those concerns but felt many, if not all of them could be addressed.

“The proposed travel lodge is believed to have a less ‘commercial’ nature and land use intensity compared to a conventional hotel,” staff wrote.

“The nearby residential area to the west sits on top of a hill and is separated by a 30‐metre‐wide undeveloped [stretch of] land with vegetation, which helps mitigate any potential impact of the proposed development.”

At a Tuesday lunchtime meeting, councillors appeared broadly supportive of the development.

A final decision on the discretionary use request is expected at a later council meeting.