As the consultation period for the city's latest update of the Official Community Plan (OCP) winds down, the Yukon Conservation Society (YCS) is calling on Whitehorse residents to speak out before the May 26 deadline for comments.

The plan acts as a guiding document when the city considers planning issues.

Following the most recent consultation period, planners will come up with a new draft plan before going back to the public and city council. A final document will then be prepared for council's consideration.

"I think a lot of proposals that have come up during the process of consulting on the OCP review will surprise people," YCS executive director Karen Baltgailis said in a statement.

"For example, there has been a suggestion to end the park reserve status of the Chadburn Lake area and to develop country residential between Long Lake and the old sewage lagoon.

"In many other parts of the city, there are widely differing suggestions for management of areas that are currently green space. Not surprisingly, there are very incompatible uses proposed for areas like McLean Lake and McIntyre Creek."

Baltgailis pointed out city planners won't necessarily use all the suggestions that came forward from comments on how to use the land.

She also argued it's important for residents to let the city know if there are proposals out there that aren't acceptable.

"There are suggestions to change land designations that Whitehorse residents pretty much assume are written in stone, like the Chadburn Park Reserve - it's important for people to let the planners know what they want."

Among the larger concerns the society has is the city's question to residents about whether there needs to be any change to the requirement for a referendum before changes to park reserve, environmental protection or greenbelt designations can be made.

"I was disturbed to see this question as part of the OCP review consultations," Baltgailis said.

"This policy in the OCP is a result of 2,500 Whitehorse residents signing a petition. It is one of the few protections that green space in Whitehorse has from development.

"Whitehorse residents have already said they want this protection for natural areas in the city - it would be undemocratic to meddle with this requirement."

The question was among those on a comment form handed out at the last community cafe session.

As it did when consultations on the OCP first began, the society is continuing to call on the city to start a focus group of stakeholders, first nation and city officials to design a permanent network of protected areas within the city.

Getting that permanent designation could be difficult, though.

As Mayor Bev Buckway pointed out, zoning processes are designed in a way they can change. The growth of the city also means that planning and development have to be done in a responsible manner, she said.

"There has to be room for everybody," the mayor noted, pointing to the growing population.

She also said the question around the referendum came out of a concern expressed by the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce. That organization has asked that the city rescind the requirement, as the implications of a referendum have become better understood with time.

One major issue is the low voter turn-out at referendums as well as the high legal costs they bring. It can also turn people off of development, Buckway suggested.

With the concerns broached by the chamber, she noted, the city opted to take the issue to the general population through the OCP process.

It will be up to residents to get their comments into the city on this and other issues by the May 26 deadline.

The document will then be drafted from the comments the city has received, she said.

"I'm really pleased with the input we've been getting," she said.