The owners of the Meadow Lakes Golf and Country Club will soon find out what it will cost them to purchase land for their planned country residential subdivision.

At their meeting Monday evening, members of city council heard from senior planner Mike Gau.

He said the Yukon government has yet to name a price for the land that golf course owners Jeff Luehmann, and Glenn Hart, a golf course shareholder and Community Services minister, will have to pay to get their project off the ground.

'Currently, the (land) owner is the Yukon government,' Gau told council.

If council approves the development agreement for the project, including certain restrictions, he said, the government would then be able to price the land.

'When the title is raised on the property, all of these things will apply. This will be able to create the land prices for the purchase,' Gau said.

In an interview this morning, Luehmann said he is hoping to hear from the government soon as the price of the lot will determine the feasibility of his plans.

A price for the lot is currently being decided by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR).

'I've heard as much as $300,000 to $500,000. That scared the heck out of me,' said Luehmann.

'There's going to be huge costs; they have to be realistic. I'd like to see it come in under $250,000.'

He said if he was able to buy the land at a price that made development feasible, he would like to get his lots to market by as early as February.

'We're just waiting for a commitment from the YTG to transfer the land to us.'

He said he plans to sell his lots for between $140,000 and $160,000 each.

'That will include a well and power to the lot,' he said. 'I don't think that's ever been done here before. We're taking a real risk on that.'

Luehmann said he's also a little concerned that a government development, Whitehorse Copper, with 110 lots, is scheduled to go to market in the summer at a cost of between $80,000 to $100,000 per lot.

The first of the Whitehorse Copper lots were scheduled to be released in November but were delayed.

The lots, according to government information, do not include a well nor power.

'In my mind, whether they're delaying the process intentionally or not, they're competing with me.

'They're putting an identical product out on the market, a competitive market.

'I want to get out to market before Raven's Ridge and before the YTG.'

EMR spokesman Ron Billingham said the price for the 23.6 hectares will be made public soon, after Luehmann has been informed.

The price, Billingham confirmed, will be based on the land, including the requirements in the city development agreement.

According to council documents, there will be several requirements attached to the development agreement if approved.

The requirements include:

• a 30-metre setback from an escarpment in the area;

• a five-metre buffer between the access roads and existing lots;

• FireSmarting (reducing the forest fire hazard); and

• that roads be constructed to city standards.

Earlier this year, Luehmann had his rezoning application for the land next to the golf course approved by council.

Luehmann originally held a lease with an option to buy the land for the development of an additional nine holes of golf.

Luehmann applied to council to rezone the land, saying an additional nine holes of golf were not viable.

Mayor Bev Buckway said she felt it was odd that council was being asked to enter into a development agreement with Meadow Lakes when the course's owners were not yet the owners of the adjacent land.