The city’s plan for infill housing lots in the Mary Lake subdivision doesn’t appear to be well thought-out, area resident Stuart Young suggested to city council Tuesday evening.

Young told council he doesn’t know of any studies the city has conducted to determine how increasing housing would affect the ground water table and the capacity of established water wells.

Nor does there appear to be any information about whether more septic fields can be accommodated, he said in his presentation.

If the studies have been conducted, said Young, the results have not been shared with local residents.

The 18-year-resident of Iris Place told council one of the locations identified for infill would remove a wildlife corridor when there are already very few corridors for wildlife to move through in the city’s southern zone.

Replacing the corridor with housing would certainly lead to more wildlife-human conflict, inevitably resulting in animals being hunted down, he said.

Young also noted the Golden Horn Elementary School near the Carcross cutoff is already at capacity.

“Has the city considered the impact of adding even more students to this area?” Stuart asked. “Has a school expansion been added to the budget?”

City council decided in May to investigate the possibility of infill housing in a number of neighbourhoods to address the dearth of lots available to meet growing demand.

There’s currently one single-family lot available in the new Whistle Bend subdivision.

City planning staff have identified 13 locations as candidates for infill housing in eight different subdivisions.

Three of the locations are in Mary Lake. The largest of the three, for instance, is six hectares in size.

The first round of gathering public input ended June 18 with the deadline for residents to fill out a public survey on the matter.

Kinden Kosick, the city’s acting manager of planning and sustainability, said this morning staff are currently preparing a summary of what they heard for city council.

They received 460 responses to the survey, as well as 60 emails, he pointed out.

Kosick said they also retained a consultant to provide site suitability assessments, which will include information on file regarding geology, hydrology, the suitability of topography and the like.

Staff will be preparing and providing a summary of the site assessment work for council and the public, he said.

Any decision to go forward with infill housing would require a city bylaw, which includes a full public review.

Young told council if it was affordable housing the city was trying to create, providing more lots in Mary Lake is not the answer.

After all is said and done – preparing the lot, bringing in power, putting in a septic field – and then building a modest home, the bill is going to run about $800,000, he said.

And then, Young said, there’s the everyday cost of transportation, as there is no public transit serving the rural neighbourhood.

Access to one of the locations is on a hill, on an inside corner, he pointed out, noting his concerns regarding traffic safety.

The largest Mary Lake location identified as an infill candidate was designated as green space in the original subdivision plan, a designation that was adopted in the Official Community Plan, Young said.

“It is also to be part of the future Wolf Creek Park,” he told council.

“It has repeatedly been found unsuitable for development, and yet suddenly is set for infill lots.”

With the possibility of 12 new lots close to his, each with the potential to provide a garden suite, Young told council, he’s concerned about the potential impact on the water table and the well he had drilled for $35,000.

When a neighbour drilled a well a few years ago, the capacity of his well dropped by 35 per cent, he said.

If he has to return to trucked water delivery, Young asked council, is the city prepared to help with the cost?

While the city has committed itself to be a well-planned and self-sustaining community, he said, the infill project has not lived up to that commitment so far.

Young said the city has recognized the growing demand for country residential lots.

Why not pursue a new rural subdivision development, he suggested.

Young said the city should explore the possibility of working with First Nations to develop some of their land.