City council postpones vote on Willow Flats rezoning

Yellowknife councillors have postponed voting on a contentious plan to rezone an area of land for residential development in the Willow Flats neighbourhood.

Mayor Ben Hendriksen proposed delaying the vote at Monday night’s council meeting as three councillors were not present.

“This is an important issue for my colleagues and the community,” he said, explaining he wanted to push back the vote to “allow the democratic view of my colleagues to all be here.”

Councillors that were present voted in favour of postponement.

Municipal staff have recommended that councillors approve rezoning two blocks of land along School Draw Avenue, which are currently designated parks and recreation, to allow for some residential development.

The city’s proposed plan would also add 3,090 square metres of land to a nature preservation – where development is restricted – near Great Slave Lake.

The proposal is part of the city’s intensification strategy, which aims to address the local housing crisis by developing underutilized municipal land.

During a meeting earlier on Monday, several councillors expressed support for rezoning a “western block” along School Draw Avenue. That would allow for residential development on approximately 9,030 square metres of land across the road from Rotary Park.

Councillors passed first reading of the bylaw required to implement that rezoning during Monday night’s council meeting. The proposal still needs to pass second and third readings and go through a public hearing before the land can be rezoned.

During the meeting earlier on Monday, some councillors said they were wary about rezoning an “eastern block” of land north of Rotary Park near the shoreline of Great Slave Lake.

The city is proposing rezoning that area to include 7,686 square metres of residential land and 3,090 square metres of a larger nature preserve.

Councillors are now expected to vote on first reading of that bylaw on Monday, September 22.

Some residents voice strong opposition

Mayor Hendriksen had said he opposed rezoning the eastern block due to strong opposition from many residents in the area.

“We’re meant to lead in our city but in order to lead we have to have people want to … come along with us,” he said.

“Right now, the community is not with us and, quite frankly, I’m not fully there yet either.”

The city received more than 200 comments from the public regarding the Willow Flats rezoning plan, the vast majority in opposition. Pages upon pages of written submissions were included in a public agenda for Monday afternoon’s meeting.

Many of those submissions expressed concern about the potential loss of protected green space in the city. Residents said the area is an important habitat for migratory and nesting birds that also supports public recreation and shoreline access.

“I believe this is a very special place, and the forested area is also a key habitat in addition to the wetland,” one person wrote, identifying themselves as a wildlife biologist.

“You’re making a huge mistake and a good part of the community will not forgive you for developing ugly housing in a place that’s supposed to be for our kids,” another resident wrote.

“Please do not make the mistake of allowing for development of this beloved green space, this is a decision that can never be un-done and will cause irreparable harm,” a third person penned.

Some residents who wrote to the city questioned the long-term feasibility of developing low-lying wetland prone to seasonal flooding.

Many submissions recommended prioritizing infill development on existing vacant lots in the city.

“I’m against this change as I feel there are so many empty and neglected lots in the downtown area (some very nearby) that it doesn’t make any sense to me to raze an area that is both heavily used by people and ecologically important,” a resident of School Draw Avenue wrote. “Green spaces like this are what make living downtown in a city like Yellowknife worth it.”

“It makes little sense to convert ecologically valuable preserve land when city-owned lots built to serve housing needs remain unused,” another person wrote.

One email to the city included a list of more than 1,000 names of people that said they opposed rezoning Willow Flats for development.

Councillor Ryan Fequet noted on Monday that council’s decision will not be based solely on public engagement but the collective interests of the city.

Fequet said while he was in support of development generally – as the city does not control much of the land within municipal boundaries – he was not in favour of moving forward with developing the eastern block.

“I wish all the time that we’ve spent talking about this had been spent fighting the GNWT on Taylor Road, where we can get an order of magnitude the square metres of area,” he said, referring to another proposed area for development along the city’s southern flank.

Some support for rezoning

City manager Stephen Van Dine said there were four submissions in support of rezoning the land for housing, which he described as “compelling.”

“The City of Yellowknife needs housing options of every kind and price range, this is a good step in the right direction,” one email stated. “Our city has so much natural land to enjoy, the development of this one small area won’t change what our city has to offer.”

“I am in favour of this rezoning application,” another resident simply stated.

City staff said they had responded to public feedback by increasing the amount of land they plan to designate to the nature preserve.

The city also completed a traffic study and a geotechnical study for the sites.

Mohammad Alam, the city’s manager of planning and environment, highlighted the lack of available land for development in the city. He said infill is just one strategy the city is pursuing to address the need for housing as well as intensification.

The city said developing land along School Draw Avenue would make use of existing infrastructure and the area is located near amenities and public transit.

Alam said the city is proposing small-scale development in the area, including duplexes, townhouses and multi-unit residential dwellings. He said lot sizes and building heights would remain comparable to existing lots in the surrounding neighbourhood.

Charlsey White, the city’s director of planning and development, added the city has been working on developing partnerships for the land with several Indigenous governments.

“They’re looking to develop the parcels not just for market housing but non-market housing, as well as demonstrating protection and celebration of cultural and environmental stewardship,” she said.

Councillor Cat McGurk said she would be more supportive of the rezoning proposal if it could be guaranteed that the land would be used by an Indigenous development corporation. She acknowledged, however, the strong opposition to developing the eastern block and said she was not sold on the idea.

Councillor Steve Payne said he supported rezoning both the western and eastern block as the city needs more land to develop housing.

“I don’t care who the developer is and I don’t care where it is, I would support any free land that we can develop, I’m going to support. I don’t care if we’re going to put a third floor on City Hall and put high-end condos on it, I’ll support that too,” he said.

“The fact is, we need housing in this town, and we all know we need housing in this town. So I’m not going to be flip-flopping on, you know, because we got a whole lot of emails from a certain segment of town. This is not an Old Town issue, this is a Yellowknife issue.”