Resort owner, residents still at odds over plans

The owner of the Takhini Hot Springs is hosting two open houses this week, attempting to convince his neighbours that further development of the resort wouldn't infringe on their views and greenspace.

The owner of the Takhini Hot Springs is hosting two open houses this week, attempting to convince his neighbours that further development of the resort wouldn’t infringe on their views and greenspace.

“We want to reassure residents that we want to maintain the rural character of the area,” company president Garry Umbrich told the Star Wednesday. “I couldn’t have a successful business without keeping that character.”

Erik Val, a long-time Hot Springs Road resident and unofficial spokesman for the community, said he is far from convinced.

“The kind of development that the Hot Springs corp. is looking at does not reflect at all the kind of residences you could reasonably expect to see in a rural neighbourhood.”

He said that in the 10 years he has lived in the community, located off the North Klondike Highway about 20 kilometres outside of Whitehorse, he has never heard his neighbours speak in such a strong, unanimous voice.

“I have not heard one person speak in support of the development,” he said. “Not one.”

In defence of his revamped proposal, Umbrich pointed to the fact that, like the people living in the area, those visiting a resort spa do not want to be bombarded with light pollution, traffic noises and woodsmoke.

“We have heard loud and clear that residents have issues with our proposed developments,” Umbrich stated in a press release

“Obviously, we don’t think we can satisfy everbody, but we are very determined to work with our neighbours and hope they are determined to work with us.”

Umbrich added he thinks more community meetings will eventually bring a compromise “despite the Yukon’s reputation for NIMBYism.”

NIMBY stands for “Not in my backyard”, and is a term used to describe people who oppose development simply because it is happening near their property.

The last time Umbrich met with the public, his plan to develop the area surrounding the hot springs was met with vociferous opposition from locals.

The plan as it was presented at the time would subdivide the 123-hectare property into 12 lots of equal size.

Ten of the lots would be zoned for commercial use and two for residential, with up to 10 homes on each lot.

Once the lots were subdivided, Umbrich would look for investors to develop businesses, such as a resort spa or bed-and-breakfast, that would fit alongside the existing hot springs bathing facilities and campground.

Because none of this would entail changes to the current zoning bylaws, Umbrich was not obligated to hold a public consultation and did so by choice.

This time around, Umbrich said he has made changes to the project proposal based on one-on-one discussions he has had with area residents. The most significant of these changes would be a new zoning regulation that would maintain greenbelts between each subdivided 10 ha lot.

“We don’t want to allow in-fill lots here, but the current zoning would allow that,” he said.

Umbrich said he is meeting with the Yukon government Community Services department to discuss the zoning changes, and added that any amendments would require a formal public consultation process.

Other changes that Umbrich will put before his neighbours this week include some mitigation of light pollution.

He did not provide any details about how he would address the light pollution issue, but did say that doing so is important to his own business, seeing as many winter visitors come to see the Northern Lights. 

There was a fair amount of antagonism between Umbrich and residents who came to the last public session.

Umbrich was accused of being untruthful when he presented visitor numbers and of making veiled threats when he pointed out he was not obligated to hold any public consultations.

Attendees at that meeting expressed further concerns about increased traffic, noise and residential density.

Val said the opinions expressed at a community meeting last Sunday made it clear to him that “the community perspective has not changed.”

The proposal that Umbrich presented to residents at the begining of the month was based on a 2004 master plan that set parameters for developing an eco resort.

The plan was put together through consultation with more than 40 hot springs shareholders, the community’s residents and the Yukon government.

Since that time, he has become the majority shareholder, and told the Star he hopes to be the sole shareholder by the spring of 2009.

Umbrich is hosting an open house from 7:00 to 9:00 this evening at the Hot Springs Valley Resort, located at the corner of the Takhini Hot Springs Road and the Klondike Highway.