Planned development would be sprawling but green

The city’s largest private-sector subdivision proposal is back on the table, with all the parties seemingly pulling in the same direction.

The city’s largest private-sector subdivision proposal is back on the table, with all the parties seemingly pulling in the same direction.

There could be anywhere from 500 to 800 housing lots available at the old tank farm property if a proposal for the area between Valleyview and Hillcrest goes forward as planned, says a Vancouver consultant.

Joaquin Karakas said in an interview Friday that under the current schedule, lots could be available by 2014 or 2015, with the entire subdivision built out sometime around 2030.

Karakas is a senior planner and urban designer with HB Lanarc/Golder. He and an associate were in Whitehorse last week for three days conducting consultation meetings on behalf of their clients.

Those clients are: Whitehorse businessman Mike Mickey, who acquired the property in the late 1990s as part of a real estate deal with White Pass and Yukon Route; and Mickey’s partner in the project, Paramjit Sidhu, of Sidhu Trucking, which has one of the largest fleets of heavy equipment in the territory.

Planning meetings were conducted last week with officials representing the City of Whitehorse, Environment Yukon and both First Nations with properties adjoining the 140-acre tank farm, he explained.

Karakas said meetings were held with the local community associations representing residents of surrounding area, and with the Yukon Conservation Society and representatives of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition.

There’s a general consensus, he noted, that the subdivision development should provide the full range of housing options, from small single-family lots to large lots and everything between, from townhouses to apartment complexes for rental.

“We are about establishing a co-operative approach with adjacent land owners to develop a vision for a comprehensive neighbourhood that includes not only the initial tank farm property but lands owned by adjacent land owners.”

Karakas said the proposal also provides for a mix of commercial and residential commercial, and there have been discussions about provisions for institutional lots to allow for medical or educational facilities.

Large fuel storage tanks – similar to the large tanks in the Marwell industrial area – were once speckled throughout the tank farm.

The tanks were removed by Mickey and the site was cleaned to the point that the National Energy Board released the site from under its jurisdiction a couple of years ago when it ruled it had been cleaned up enough to be used again for industrial activity.

The Yukon government, however, resisted attempts by the late Brad Taylor, who was working under an arrangement with Mickey, to move forward with a residential development.

The government said the site did not meet residential standards.

Taylor, however, insisted and provided proof the technology did exist that would allow for perfectly safe residential development.

Karakas said the proposal on the table now calls for the excavation of all contaminated soil so it can be exposed to air and sunlight on site.

Aeration and sunlight exposure is the accepted method of treating soil contaminated with fuel and oil.

The site will be remediated down to a numerical value that will dispel any question of whether it is suitable for residential development, he said.

Karakas said just how much dirt will have to be excavated, and where it will go once it has been remediated, are details that have not yet been finalized.

It will be, he pointed out, a phased-in approach to soil restoration and the development and sale of lots.

But it’s expected somewhere around 18 years from now, the vision will have come full-circle, Karakas suggested.

“In 2030, the tank farm will be a green multi-use neighbourhood that welcomes a variety of residents who feel safe and engaged in their community,” reads one of the posters put up at last Wednesday evening’s open house for the public.

The session followed the three days of meetings between governments and various stakeholders.

Karakas said the intent is to get all the parties standing behind the proposal, and it appears that is happening.

Officials with Environment Yukon, he said, indicated the developers didn’t have to go all the way down to zero contaminants to achieve acceptability for residential development, but that’s the plan, he said.

Karakas said the city is in full support, and has indicated that providing the necessary water and sewer infrastructure will not be an issue.

Having a comprehensive residential neighbourhood throughout the tank farm area is entirely consistent with the the city’s revised Official Community Plan adopted in 2010, he said.

Karakas said the next step is to refine the planning sufficiently enough to prepare a submission to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board.

In addition to seeking comments at the open house about the development and the type of neighbourhood people wanted to see, the consultants were also asking for suggestions about renaming the site.

The tank farm, he acknowledged Friday, just isn’t a name one associates with a neighbourhood of trails, trees and open green spaces.

As reported in Friday’s Star, city councillor Ranj Pillai has called upon his fellow members of council to halt the planning for the controversial Porter Creek D residential development.

The city already has five phases of the new Whistle Bend subdivision on the books. As well, there a couple of private sector developments in the works, such as the proposal moving forward for a residential development of 130-plus lots in the old Mackenzie RV Park beside Crestview, Pillai pointed out.

With the tank farm now emerging in a very substantial way, he said, there’s no need to push forward with Porter Creek D.

In fact, Pillai said, with so many housing proposals on the table, it behooves the city to sit down with the Yukon government and the two First Nations to come up with a comprehensive approach to housing.

It does nobody any good if the city is working on the Porter Creek D proposal in isolation of what the Kwanlin Dun First Nation and the Ta’an Kwach’an Council might want to bring to the market, he said.

Pillai said there’s also a very real need for a comprehensive analysis to determine today’s demand and what the future demand will be.

Pulling a number out of a hat – such as the old 200 lots per year – doesn’t add up to comprehensive planning, the councillor argued.