Don’t stomp in my backyard, city told

Photo by Whitehorse Star

What was to be a final opportunity for the public to speak on the city’s guiding document for planning turned largely into a plea for the city to keep an area in Riverdale as greenspace.

More than 70 people turned up at city hall Monday evening for a public hearing on the city’s proposed Official Community Plan (OCP ) during the council meeting.

Closer to 30 of those spoke during the hearing. At least 20 of those clearly voiced their opposition to the possibility of infill development between Firth Road and Boswell Crescent in Riverdale.

The presentations come just a couple of weeks after the city turned down a request by a Riverdale resident to pursue a petition for a referendum on the infill development.

The city argued it denied the petition based on recent court decisions showing it as illegal to hold referendums on municipal planning issues.

In turning down the petition, officials with the city encouraged those concerned about the infill to come out to the public hearing last night to make their views known.

They did.

One delegate cited the potential for Riverdale to become “an urban slum” if housing is crowded into the area.

Others noted the benefits the area has brought to their own lives. Still others pointed to the detrimental impacts infill there could have for the entire city if more housing is developed in the same area the city has located its wells for the community’s water supply, among other impacts.

Both Martin Guibeault and John Miller, who work in hydrology and have homes on Boswell Drive, share a concern that the proposed OCP doesn’t sufficiently address protecting the city’s water supply.

The city is now entirely supplied by ground water wells in Riverdale, Guibeault pointed out, before going on to state that ground water can be susceptible to contaminants in the ground.

“It’s really important that issue be on the table,” he said, arguing only one small mention of well-head protection is made in the draft OCP under section 3.1.

It largely deals with future well protection, but the city should also be concerned with protecting what it has now, he said.

Policies to safeguard the city’s water supply should be in place before any zoning changes, as would be required to allow for infill between Boswell and Firth, because the two are integral to one another.

Miller also told council the tragedy in Walkerton, Ont. 10 years ago that saw seven people die and many other residents ill from E. coli in the water began with issues around poor infrastructure.

He too pointed out that contaminants, including oil that may leak from faulty tanks, ends up in the ground, and there’s often no way of knowing it’s in the water supply until it’s too late.

Miller commented that residents, including those who live in that infill area, will be the stewards of the community’s water supply.

It was a point not lost on the Riverdale residents, many of whom are residents of either Firth or Boswell, including Duncan MacLeod.

He told council the city is essentially trusting residents like himself not to “dump crap” in their yards. The fewer people closer to the wells that the city has to trust, the better, he argued.

In separate presentations, MacLeod and his wife, Cheryl, recalled their search for a home and eventual choice to buy their Firth Road property, considering that the space between Firth and Boswell was zoned as greenspace and their realtors’ assurances that it wouldn’t change, among other factors.

The couple also pointed to the financial implications that might come with infill as property values drop, with Cheryl wondering what financial compensation there might be for neighbouring property owners.

Duncan suggested the city convert the area to parkland status so that it doesn’t change.

Acknowledging that his arguments may be viewed as NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard), he wrapped up his presentation by telling council: “It is my backyard and I don’t appreciate you stomping around in it,” he said to applause.

Others cited the city’s own policies on protecting green spaces in their opposition to the infill. At least a couple of delegates tried to persuade the city with the lyrics of a folk song, specifically Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi.

“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot,” were the Mitchell lyrics council was told.

What they’ve got, council heard from many, is a green space used by young and old alike.

It is a favourite spot for seniors who live in a nearby seniors’ residence to walk, feed the birds and enjoy nature while younger folks who grew up in Riverdale spent years bicycling through.

James Roddick and Douglas de la Mare, in separate presentations, told council they heard of the potential infill for the site where they spent many hours during the years they grew up in the community, and wanted to state their opposition.

As de la Mare said, the space is one of the greatest things about Riverdale.

“If you develop that area, I wonder where you will go next,” de la Mare said.

Beyond the green space and other issues, there were also health concerns brought forward by Tony de la Mare, the territory’s former medical officer of health. He recalled earlier days in Riverdale when he told his patients with breathing problems to get out of Riverdale as soon as possible because of the smoke in the neighbourhood.

While a number of efforts and circumstances have reduced the amount of wood smoke in the neighbourhood, Tony argued that adding more homes to the neighbourhood has the potential to elevate the smoke level to the previous situation.

As the arguments against the infill continued through the evening, council members questioned a number of speakers on where they would suggest new residential homes be built if not in Riverdale.

Many noted they are not planners and could not state definitively where it could go. Others noted the amount of land in Whitehorse that is not in an established neighbourhood.

Elaine Smart was quick to state exactly where land could be developed.

“Well, I thought you were developing Whistle Bend,” she said, referring to the city’s next major development area in Porter Creek’s lower bench.

Smart argued Whistle Bend has been in the planning stages for years, and wondered when lots would actually become available there.

“The answer to the whole problem is to get Whistle Bend on line,” she said.

In the past, city planners have stated Whistle Bend will serve as the next major site for development. However, the areas proposed for infill in the OCP are there to accommodate any growth outside of that.

Coun. Dave Stockdale asked Smart whether she believes residents should have a choice in where they live rather than simply being restricted to one area, like Whistle Bend.

To that, Smart fought back with another question, wondering when Whitehorse residents have ever had a choice if they were buying a new home, pointing to Copper Ridge as an example.

Stockdale then opted out of the questioning. He told Smart of the rule forbidding council members to debate issues with speakers – a response that garnered much laughter from those in the gallery.

“We’ll debate it over coffee,” Smart replied.

Others encouraged the city to support infill in other ways, such as providing incentives for redevelopment, encouraging the use of garden suites and other initiatives.

Opposition to designating the area for infill continued to be heard into the evening as the hearing continued.

“Riverdale is definitely the big issue,” Mayor Bev Buckway told reporters after the meeting.

As for whether she was convinced though, she said she’ll wait for the report on the hearing to be brought forward by city staff at the July 19 council meeting.

Council, she commented, has to weigh the concerns of the community with the benefits to the overall city.

One of the major issues the presentations brought up for her was the number of residents who stated they were told the zoning for the area would never change. There is always the option to alter zoning, she argued.

Buckway said a meeting with the local real estate association in the hopes that they might explain that to clients purchasing a home could be “worth a try,” but there’s no legal obligation on the part of realtors to do so.

She suggested prospective home buyers contact the city to look at the current zoning around their properties as well as what might be in store for the area.

Council is set to vote on second reading of the OCP bylaw following the report to council. Changes could be made prior to second reading.

A ministerial review at the territorial level would follow second reading. It’s expected third reading and adoption would come forward in September.

See more coverage of the OCP hearing in Wednesday’s Star.