The proposal to reduce parking requirements for a 16-unit apartment complex at 410 Cook St. was defeated at city council’s meeting Monday.

Three councillors voted to allow the parking reductions though a zoning amendment and three voted against, resulting in a tie vote.

Mayor Dan Curtis is taking a leave of absence while he runs in the territorial election for the Liberal Party in Whitehorse Centre.

Tie votes mean the proposal before council is defeated.

Asked Monday night what would happen if the request for a parking reduction was defeated, city manager Linda Rapp said the proposal would simply be defeated and would not come back before council.

It wasn’t known Tuesday morning if the project proponent would continue to pursue a development at 410 Cook St. now that their request for a parking reduction has been denied.

The opposing votes were registered by councillors Samson Hartland, Dan Boyd and Laura Cabott.

All three expressed concern that allowing the reduction would have a negative impact on the Cook Street area by creating more on-street parking when parking is already an issue in the downtown core.

Cabott said while on-street parking may not be an issue now, she is concerned about what the future will bring as the development potential in the area is high.

Those in support noted the importance of having more affordable housing available.

If on-street parking were to become a problem, the city always has ways to address the problem, Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu told her colleagues.

Coun. Steve Roddick noted how council has made housing a priority, and when opportunties for more housing come along, those opportunities should be seized.

The project proponent is looking to build a four-storey apartment building with 16 micro-units and two commercial spaces.

The proponent was asking to remove the requirement to provide two visitor parking stalls, to remove the requirement for a loading space and reduce the number of residential parking stalls from eight to seven.

Information provided to council over the last couple of months says the proponent has said they needed the parking reduction to make the project viable.

The city’s development review committee did review the request for a parking reduction and no substantial issues were raised, according to the information provided to council.

The project has also received a grant from the Yukon Housing Corp. that would guarantee at least 10 of the 16 units would be maintained as below- market affordable housing units for the next 20 years.

Of the 15 written submissions to council for the Feb. 22 public hearing, eight were opposed, four were in support and three raised concerns or had general inquiries.

The opposition largely revolved around the issue of parking and how a reduction would create more on-street parking and generally increase traffic congestion.

There were suggestions that the proponent could reduce the number of living units to make it work.

Responses in favour of the reduction were largely in support of having more affordable housing available in the downtown area.

The Cook Street lot is located two lots behind the Chilkoot Inn, where there is currently a big hole in the ground. The single-storey structure that occupied the lot previously was demolished early last year.

Information put before council suggested there is evidence that those with below-average incomes are less likely to own a vehicle.

Council was also informed that a U.S.-wide study has showed that availability of parking is significantly less important for renters of micro-units than for renters of conventional apartments.