City council is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to extend the moratorium on the subdivision of country residential lots.

City planning manager Mike Gau said more time is needed to address the issue in the current rewrite of the city's zoning bylaw.

A temporary moratorium was implemented last year after city council approved the subdivision of two lots in the new Whitehorse Copper country residential neighbourhood.

Council has asked that the moratorium be brought back after six months for review.

Concerns have been raised about the potential impact of increased residential density in neighbourhoods designed for a low-density character.

Of particular concern, over and above more traffic and such, was the issue of whether the groundwater table could handle more water wells and whether soil conditions could absorb more septic fields.

Gau told council unless the moratorium is extended, city hall will again have to entertain subdivision applications.

The rewrite of the zoning bylaw is scheduled for completion and approval by council before the end of June.

Gau said among the options being considered for the zoning bylaw is a new requirement in the application process for the subdivision of country residential lots.

Property owners, he said, may be responsible for providing a professional and technical analysis indicating the subdivision of their property would not have a negative effect on the availability of well water or soil absorption.

It may be that neighbours might want to get together and share the cost of such an analysis, Gau told council.

The city planner said in an interview the cost of a technical analysis could be expensive. It would depend on a number of factors, including how much groundwater and soil information is already on record.

"With the value of land these days, it is a very good possibility people might want to team up and do it,” said Gau.

He said the city ran a test balloon by one of the local engineering firms to a get a rough idea of the price.

The firm returned a ballpark cost of $80,000 to produce an analysis for the Whitehorse Copper subdivision.