After a confusing round of voting by a somewhat bewildered council, city officials eventually quashed the proposed Takhini West development Monday night.

After listening to Takhini residents opposed to the Normandy Road development plan, city councillors sought clarification from administrators before, during and after voting the proposal down.

The controversial proposal called for the development of 32 units on Normandy Road and, until recently, would have had 22 of the units connect to the Alaska Highway.

The Alaska Highway connection, a compromise reached by the developer and the residents, was vetoed by the Yukon government, which called the plan a traffic and safety concern.

After the highway connection was eliminated, Coun. Doug Graham stated he believed the development would have to be restricted to 20 units to appease current residents and maintain the character of the neighbourhood.

Last night, members of council originally wanted to vote for a 20-unit proposal.

On the advice of administrative services manager Robert Fendrick and the manager of planning services, Lesley Cabott, council eventually voted on the developer's 32-unit proposal.

'The developer is looking to have due process,' said Cabott, explaining that council needed to vote on the 32-unit proposal because that is what the developer had applied for.

After nearly 10 minutes of confusion and administrative explanations of legal procedures, council brought forward the original 32-unit motion, which would have seen all the units connect to Normandy Road, and then voted it down.

By voting down the motion, according to city administrators, the proposed development was defeated, leaving the developer, who remains anonymous, to reapply or give up.

'Can you please tell us what we've done?,' Coun. Dave Stockdale asked city administrators after voting down the issue.

'I just want some clarity here,' he said, wondering if he had defeated the motion with his vote.

Prior to the vote, council heard from concerned Takhini residents who explained that their neighbourhood did not have the capacity to handle an extra 32 units because it would increase traffic and change the character of their neighbourhood.

Speaking to members of council, area resident Beat Kunzie asked council to observe the Official Community Plan and keep and maintain the small, intimate character of their neighbourhood.

'Make sure short-term decisions don't overshadow long-term goals.'

'Any investor who purchases something and would like to rezone it faces risk,' he added.

Fellow resident Rick Grant said one of his main concerns with the proposed development was traffic.

'The road is barely wide enough to park on one side of the street and still have two-way traffic.'

He said putting nearly double the number of residents on 4,976 square metres of the areas 88,000 metres didn't make any sense and would lead to a crowded neighbourhood.

'That's a 34 per cent population increase with no additional lands.'

Resident Stephanie Churchill agreed, saying that 32 units would likely lead to more than 50 additional cars and would lead to a parking nightmare.

Last week, YTG Department of Highways and Public Works spokesperson Darren Butt said his department could not allow 22 of the 32 units to access the Alaska Highway due to safety concerns.

'We worked diligently and we just realized its not a viable option right now. For safety purposes we just can't do it,' Butt said.

According to a YTG document tabled at council - Review of Existing Forest Operations Access at km 1426 Alaska Highway (Whitehorse) and Impact of Proposed Additional Traffic from Residential Development - Normandy Road is considered a safer access route to Takhini West than the highway.

The document's conclusions state: 'Under current conditions, it is not possible to state with certainty that additional traffic using the access cannot physically be tolerated. However, it can be stated that it would be detrimental to operation of the Alaska Highway/Two Mile Hill intersection area.

'It would be unwise to compromise safety and mobility on a major arterial highway while another viable alternative exists, ie., Normandy Road. It is therefore recommended that altering the usage of the access be denied.'

Last week, Inukshuk Planning's Ian Robertson, who speaks on behalf of the unknown developer, said a 20-unit development did not make financial sense.

'Twenty units is not viable, it's entirely different development wise. He's (the developer) said all along he needs 32 units,' Robertson said.

He said the Alaska Highway option was only considered to appease the residents of the area and that the developer felt connecting all the units to Normandy Road was still the best option.

'What people don' t realize is that the developer could build 40 units there. He's made concessions, he's gone from apartments to townhouses,' he said.