Thursday's city-wide vote will determine the future of an Arkell greenbelt, what the lower Porter Creek bench natural areas will look like, and whether the green space referendum and plebiscite bylaws survive.

Mike Gau, the city's planning manager, said the area for the referendum is approximately 13 hectares and has a green zoning designation. The vote will determine whether the area can be considered by council for new houses.

'There is nothing on the parcel. We're voting for redesignation in the Official Community Plan.'

Gau said if the city gets a yes on Arkell, his department will begin preparing for a public planning process. A no vote, he said, would be binding and no development would occur.

Arkell, he added, would not require a plebiscite on its green space as it does not require an area development scheme - which calls for a detailed design on traffic patterns and infrastructure use as the area is small in size.

The plebiscite, he said, would involve a non-binding vote on the green space design for the lower Porter Creek bench community concept known as Whistle Bend, which was developed in a charrette process last year.

Gau said the green space map voters will be deciding on what identifies green space design, environmental protection areas, parks, greenbelts and trails.

The referendum and plebiscite come from the green space bylaws, passed on June 12 and June 22, 2006 respectively, and resulted from a successful petition spearheaded by Carole Bookless and the Porter Creek Community Association.

The bylaws, according to city officials, must be on the books for at least one year before they can be amended or eliminated.

Gau said after the last building lot lottery earlier this month, there are no government-developed urban residential lots scheduled for sale for two years.

'We are out of lots for Copper Ridge and Takhini North looks like late 2009,' he said of the next available lots scheduled to be released.

He noted there are two private country residential subdivisions Raven's Ridge next to the Fish Lake Road and Fox Haven Estates next to the Meadow Lakes golf course as well as Whitehorse Copper, across from Meadow Lakes, which will have lots available this year.

The government, according to the Department of Community Services, will be releasing 109 lots in Whitehorse Copper between July and September.

According to the Yukon Bureau of Statistics, there was almost the same number of housing transactions in the first quarter of 2007 as there were in 2006 in Whitehorse.

In the first quarter of 2007, there were 43 single-family home transactions worth $10.8 million.

In the first quarter of 2006, there were 50 transactions worth $10.9 million followed by 97 transactions in the second quarter, 114 in the third and 87 in the fourth.

The average price of a single-family home in the city, according to the bureau, is $251,800.

The average price for country residential homes has ranged between $270,000 to $310,000 over the last year, according to the bureau.

Mayor Bev Buckway said Tuesday voter turnout will likely determine whether council will continue on with the green space bylaws past their June one-year deadlines or to amend or scrap them.

'I think a lot of that will depend on voter turnout. If it's really terrible, then I think council will have to look at that.

'If you have 10 per cent of the population making your decisions, that's not a good thing.'

Last week's advance poll, according to city officials, was considered low with just over 101 people casting ballots.

In last June's referendum, there were 184 people who cast ballots in the advance poll with an overall voter turnout of 21 per cent.

In last October's election, there were 201 people casting ballots in the advance poll with a voter turnout of 40 per cent in the election.

Buckway said whatever the outcome of the vote, the city is in a land crunch and needs more development as the city's policy of maintaining a two-year lot supply looks unachievable in the coming years.

'It's not what people assume. They assume that due to our large geographic size, there's plenty of land, but that's not the case.

'We have a lot of land that isn't available because it's first nation land,' Buckway said.

Other areas do not have terrain that's suitable for development, she added.

She said Arkell has not been planned simply because council doesn't know if development in the area will be supported by the public.

'If we were to say we're going to put this kind of housing there, then people would say we didn't consult them.'

Buckway said she expects the plebiscite on the lower bench will meet with approval. That would help the city get to work on Whistle Bend and get lots to market in the next few years.

Veteran realtor Mike Racz is the president of the Yukon Real Estate Association.

In an interview this week, Racz said he feels it's important that Whitehorse have more lots brought to market to accommodate an expanding workforce and add to the city's tax base.

'The only way the city can increase its tax revenue is to build more lots to have more houses to get more taxes.'

In the 2007 city budget, council raised property taxes by five per cent and hiked user fees across the board.

Racz said the city will need more money to pay for things such as recreation centres and arts programs.

'All this money has to come from somewhere.'

Arkell, Racz added, seems to be one of the only places that will allow for lower-end homes.

'Arkell is the only place where you can have affordable housing under $170,000.'

Asked about the plebiscite, Racz said he doesn't agree with the bylaw or the vote.

'I think it's a waste of taxpayers' time and taxpayers' money.

'All the people who wanted to have the opportunity to have input into the development of the lower bench had umpteen meetings they could have attended,' he said.

'You can't not know what's going on. It's on the radio and it's in the newspaper.'

Racz said he doesn't feel it's right that someone could reject the plan after all the time and effort that was spent coming up with it.

Karen Baltgailis is the executive director of the Yukon Conservation Society.

Baltgailis said this week she feels the city is being responsible in holding a plebiscite on the undeveloped lower bench.

'They're doing due diligence in having a vote in line with the bylaw.'

She said she feels the vote on Arkell is important but is disappointed the city did not give residents an idea of what could be built in the area.

'Really, nobody's had a chance to decide what's going to be developed.

'I don't think there's been enough information going out on what's going to happen if there's a yes vote,' Baltgailis said.

She said she believes Takhini North may be able to fill the void in the city's current lot shortage.

Mike Smith, chief of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation, said Tuesday he is disappointed his government wasn't consulted on the upcoming Arkell referendum before it was announced to the public.

'There was absolutely no consultation, no discussion whatsoever.

'They've already stepped on our toes with respect to McLean Lake.'

Kwanlin Dun has settled land which borders the 13-hectare Arkell property.

The first nation opposed a concrete batch plant and quarry operation proposed by Territorial Contracting Ltd. owner Ron Newsome.

Council has approved the McLean Lake application but residents of the area have since launched a lawsuit in the territory's Supreme Court to try to block the development.

Smith said he has concerns over a buffer area between his first nation's property and the proposed development and would be willing to go to court if an adequate buffer is not provided.

'If we need to go to court, then we'll go to court. We have the legal standing to do that.'

Bookless said Monday that she will cast a ballot in Thursday's vote but has some tough choices to make.

'There's a lot of pluses and minuses with the plebiscite.

'I know the community has worked hard on that to try to get a good plan.'

Yes or no on the Arkell question, she said, was a tough decision.

'It's a hard question, one that affects people in Arkell and McIntyre the most.

'From a design point of view, it's the one nice open space up there. On the other hand, we need spaces to build on,' she said.

'Arkell is difficult to vote on. It's such a small area and the decision will have to be made whether there's enough room for a buffer.'

Bookless said the fact that there would not be a plebiscite vote on the Arkell property if the referendum passes would weigh heavy on her mind when she ticked a box at the polls.

'That will be a big influence on how I vote on it.

'I wanted to know if there's going to be a green space plan there,' Bookless said.

'If you do vote for it, it could be wall-to-wall houses up there.'

See letter, p. 11.