Both the Marsh Lake local advisory council and the Yukon government agree planning of the community's future is needed.

However, exactly how that planning will take place has yet to be determined.

Marsh Lake residents have been lobbying the government for almost six years to develop a community land use plan, said Malcolm Taggart, chair of the advisory council.

But what is currently being offered by the government is a not a community-wide plan, said Taggart.

'It is an interim step toward that that would be largely a zoning exercise,' he said. 'It's a cart before the horse issue.'

The major issue isn't the suggestion the government wants to zone some of the land in the community, said Taggart. It is that zoning without having a land use plan isn't looking at the big picture for the area, he said.

'It's fine as far as it goes, but the timing just doesn't seem right.'

Part of the problem with moving forward right now is that parts of the community sits on Kwanlin Dun and Tagish first nation lands, said Jerome McIntyre, a land use planner with the Department of Community Services.

Before any local area plan is put in place in their traditional territory, the two governments must get together and discuss planning on those lands, said McIntyre.

The two first nations, however, are not ready to move forward on planning in the area, because of capacity issues, said McIntyre.

It could be up to two years before they are ready to work on land use planning in the area, so the priority is to find an interim solution, said McIntyre.

Moving forward without the first nations isn't desirable, agreed Taggart, but simply zoning the land doesn't seem like the solution either.

If a local area plan can't be created right now, the best way to effectively start implementing any sort of planning is to put in some zoning regulations, said McIntyre.

Vacant land would be put under a neutral designation, he said, and any change in land use would require a proposal, public consultation and approval by cabinet.

The proposal, put forward to more than 50 Marsh Lake residents at a public meeting last week, was simply intended to provide interim development control, said McIntyre.

'We went out and we put the option on the table for feedback,' he said.

The government, however, does want to see a local area plan for the Marsh Lake area, he said, and it is certainly on the radar.

The interim solution would certainly be followed up with a more detailed plan in the future, he added.

The current goal is to gauge the level of support in the community, he said. Though it was clear at the meeting many in the community thought waiting may be the more ideal first step.

The government now expects the local advisory council will be putting forward some type of proposal, he said.

It is certainly trying to find options the government may be willing to consider rather than just zoning property, said Taggart.

'We'd like to see a wider planning process so the community gets together a lot to talk about development,' said Taggart. 'Zoning then becomes part of the wider plan.'

The current government proposal seems rather ad hoc, he added.

The community has been evolving over several years, said McIntyre.

What was once mostly a cottage community has become a year-round bedroom community with most residents commuting north into Whitehorse to work, he said.

There is also the issue of what was previously rural residential property moving toward a more industrial use, he said.

'We're trying to address land use conflict.'

No decisions have yet been made, and the government will be continuing to dialogue with the community, he said.

'We're trying to move everyone's goals forward,' said Taggart.