Eliminating the construction of apartment buildings and townhouses from the city's downtown residential area would mean the neighbourhood bordering the clay cliffs would continue its slide into slum status, city council was told Monday evening.

At an Official Community Plan (OCP) public hearing on the city's downtown plan, council heard from scores of concerned citizens that taking away the option of multi-family residential construction from Old Town bordered by the Pioneer Cemetery, Cook Street, the clay cliffs and Sixth Avenue is a bad idea.

The downtown plan recommends several amendments to the city's OCP, including taking multi-family out of the zoning bylaw for Old Town, restricting hotel construction to the downtown core and a conditional lifting of height restrictions on buildings from four to eight storeys.

Downtown property owner Carole Oberg said she feels multi-family residential properties would be one of the only ways to raise property values and the quality of the neighbourhood.

'I've seen the area change ... I think it would better if there were multi-family residences in that area,' she said.

'I feel that this amendment is going to restrict that area downtown to be an underdeveloped slum area.'

She said a recent appraisal she's had done on her house actually shows values are being affected by having only single-family residences in the area.

'Because of the area I'm in, family residences makes the value in that area lower.

'We need something that would encourage people to go in there and develop.'

Farshid Anvitabar, the owner of Midnight Sun Bed and Breakfast on Sixth Avenue, said he also promotes multi-family residential development in Old Town.

Anvitabar said he has guests from many countries stay at his bed and breakfast and they all complain the neighbourhood is a dump.

'I have people from all over the world staying there ... and all of them complain,' said Anvitabar.

'The city hasn't spent one penny to fix up things like the roads and sewers ....

'If the city doesn't want to help people make the neighbourhood better, make some loans so people can put up some siding.'

Resident Doug Irish said he also agrees that city infrastructure downtown is a problem that needs fixing.

'You can start tomorrow on the streets that's the biggest part of the decay downtown, the public spaces,' he said.

Lifting some of the restrictions downtown would encourage absentee landlords to continue their behaviour of letting their properties deteriorate while they waited for zoning rules to change.

City resident Bob Lorimer said he feels taking multi-family options off the table would lead to urban decay as it has in Montreal, Toronto and American cities.

'It's visually apparent that many of these buildings are run-down,' he said.

'It's also apparent looking at other cities that not redeveloping downtown leads to urban decay.

'(Removing the multi-family option) will discourage development in an area that is suffering from deteriorating infrastructure and decay.'

Lorimer also said he disagrees with the city's policy of putting conditions including that building an eight-storey building won't affect a neighbour's enjoyment of their land on the construction of such buildings because it's 'subjective' and isn't feasible.

'In my opinion, a lack of consistency means it will result in it being fundamentally unfair.'

Lorimer said the city should think of introducing rules that would encourage investment in the downtown area now before it slides further into decline and becomes harder to fix.

Porter Creek resident Carole Bookless said while she didn't have a position on the densificaton of Old Town, she does have a problem with eight-storey buildings in certain areas of downtown.

Bookless said she didn't want to see stand-alone or ground-floor residential buildings permitted on the waterfront because she believes they would restrict citizen access to public property.

'I don't agree with stand-alone residential on the waterfront. I don't feel that ground-floor residential should be allowed on the waterfront.

'The waterfront should be public.'

She said she doesn't agree with having eight-storey buildings on the waterfront either.

Longtime downtown resident Missy Follwell said she doesn't want to see eight-storey buildings downtown, period.

'It's being able to see those mountains from anywhere downtown that warms my heart.'

She said she'd recommend nothing higher than six storeys in most of the downtown area, restrictions of two storeys from Second to First Avenue and no buildings on the waterfront.

She compared having buildings on the riverfront to the current ATCO Place tent structure standing in the former Motorways trucking yard now owned by the city.

Resident Ted Garland said he doesn't want to see eight-storey buildings either.

'I don't want to sit here and see the uglification of Whitehorse take place under my nose.'

Speaking on behalf of Westmark Hotels, Frank Curlew said he has an issue with restricting hotels to the downtown core.

'New hotels will locate where it makes sense,' he said. 'As you are aware, the Westmark owns a hotel in downtown Whitehorse, one of the biggest challenges we have is parking.'

Kirn Dhillon, whose family owns the Family Hotel, said he doesn't feel restricting hotel construction to the downtown core is a good idea either.

'I feel as the fellow from Westmark said that we don't want to be held back.'

He said if his family were to purchase property beside the hotel, they would expect to be allowed to build on it.

'If anything, I think Whitehorse needs more rooms,' Dhillon said.

Responding to questions from Coun. Jan Stick, city manager Dennis Shewfelt said the proposed lifting of the height restrictions would be a conditional use, and each building would have to be approved by council.

'We wouldn't see it go up to eight storeys on the waterfront.'

Shewfelt said there hasn't been any new infrastructure in the residential downtown area, for about 10 years.

Coun. Dave Austin said he wouldn't support any tall buildings on the waterfront and prefers to have them against the clay cliffs.

'The height of the building will not exceed the height of the escarpment,' he said.

Responding to concerns by some residents that they weren't informed of the details of the downtown plan, Coun. Doug Graham noted the document has been available and in the media since last April.

It has undergone public and committee discussions and has been available in hard copy and online since last year, added Mayor Bev Buckway.