The people turning a downtown Yellowknife office block into housing say a requirement for a fire hydrant vault is the “hitch” stopping them from opening.
The Nest is a 72-unit apartment building that formerly sat empty, as the Bellanca office building, for a decade.
Borealis Development, which owns The Nest, says it is ready to apply for an occupancy permit and bring in the first residents – but it’s being asked to install a fire hydrant vault, and that’s causing a large problem.
Scott Parker, a lawyer representing Borealis, told city council on Monday that when Borealis was given a development permit to turn Bellanca into The Nest, there was no requirement for a fire hydrant vault.
But the building permit – a separate document, issued after the development permit – does require a fire hydrant vault.
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Borealis secured financing for The Nest after receiving the development permit but before receiving the building permit. Under its existing financing, the company doesn’t have the money to cover construction of a fire hydrant vault, which Parker said is estimated at up to $750,000.
This is becoming urgent, he said, as Borealis needs to have an occupancy permit issued by August 15 to satisfy the terms put in place by its lenders – but can’t get that permit unless it either builds the fire hydrant vault or an alternative is agreed upon.
Parker told council Borealis has installed a “state-of-the-art alarm system, new sprinkler system, new fire pump system and a wall hydrant,” and has proposed an alternative to the fire hydrant vault, but that’s still being reviewed by the city and the Office of the Fire Marshal.
“Time is of the essence for a decision on this alternative proposal,” said Parker.
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He asked for council to formally refer the issue to staff as an “urgent matter to be resolved” and, if a fire hydrant vault is absolutely necessary, come up with some options to help, such as funding programs or a cost-sharing arrangement with City Hall or nearby buildings.
“It’s not reasonable that Borealis alone pays for the full cost of the hydrant,” said Parker, noting that Borealis had paid more than $400,000 in property taxes since acquiring the building.
“Given the high cost and the shared access to the hydrant, Borealis proposes either the city absorb the cost to install that hydrant, or there’s some sort of a major cost-sharing agreement,” Parker said.
“If Yellowknife wants to keep rents reasonable, then having this revitalized apartment building shoulder 100 percent of the hydrant vault cost, that’s really not going to help keep those rents reasonable.”
He also suggested the city could issue an occupancy permit before the August 15 deadline “with a condition that Borealis put a fire watch in place until this matter is resolved.”
‘We’ll find a way’
In response, meeting chair Ryan Fequet said a request from Borealis had been received in July and was “going through the process.”
“I can tell you for sure that our city manager at least three times today has been poking the bear and checking, so this is definitely on staff’s high-priority list,” Fequet told Parker.
“I hope that we can find a reasonable solution to this quickly,” said councillor Cat McGurk.
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City manager Stephen Van Dine suggested a formal resolution telling staff to hurry up wouldn’t necessarily help.
“Our regulators are obligated to follow the legislation and various bylaws that have been put in place by council. They are providing their professional judgment and they require due diligence,” Van Dine said.
“I believe in the fullness of the process, having an awareness of the situation of the developer and the need for downtown revitalization, which has been supported by this council and previous councils.
“We will not dilly-dally on this matter, but I want to make sure that our officials have the freedom to apply their full professional judgment.”
Asked by Tom McLennan about the way the issue arose – between the development permitting and the building permitting – Van Dine acknowledged that the city should find a way to avoid a similar dilemma in future.
“In the course of redevelopment, there’s a number of things that need to be taken into account when you’re dealing with existing infrastructure,” he said, pointing to things like the evolution of the National Building Code.
“I’ve had more conversations about fire hydrants than I ever imagined I would have. I want to reassure residents and developers that fire protection and fire safety is an important component. In fact, it’s critical when we move through the development process.
“What we are looking to do as an administration – as key issues for identification early on in the development approval process – is make sure requirements such as fire hydrants, setbacks and other access points are known well in advance, to avoid developers incurring any unnecessary costs that might not have been contemplated at the front end.”
While there was no immediate movement on the issue, Fequet said housing was “the collective number-one priority of this council” and he told Parker things were moving as fast as possible.
“Just putting on the record: We hear you, we’ll find a way,” Fequet said.
