Residents of the Takhini Hot Springs Rural Subdivision got a glimpse of potential development being planned for the area at a public meeting hosted by the Yukon government and Inukshuk Planning and Development consultants.

Thursday evening's meeting, which included an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. and a public meeting beginning at 7 p.m., took place at the Hootalinqua Fire Hall. It was attended by a spattering of about 25 residents as well as planning consultants and government officials.

The proposed subdivision, currently called the Hot Springs Road Country Residential Subdivision, originally included four development proposals with a fifth proposal added about one hour after the beginning of the open house.

The four original proposals included:

ï Option one: a plan which proposes 20 lots, 2,828 metres of road and an average lot size of 4.35 hectares (ha).

ï Option two: a plan which proposes 22 lots, 2,810 metres of road and an average lot size of 4.05 ha.

ï Option three: a plan which proposes 17 lots, 2.85 kms of road and an average lot size of 4.51 ha.

ï Option four: a plan which proposes 19 lots, 2,781 km of road and an average lot size of 4.60 ha.

At about 5:30 p.m., a concerned Eric Magnson, director of the YTG's community development branch, entered the fire hall to speak with consultants regarding concerns he had over the displayed proposals.

Following a brief discussion, which Magnuson described as an internal matter, a fifth option was erected to reflect the desires of local residents which emanated, he said, from previous discussions residents had with area MLAs.

Magnuson said he asked for the fifth option to be posted so residents would know their input was being considered carefully and to give those visiting the open house and public meeting more information about development possibilities being considered by the government.

He said development in the area was being considered due to the increasing demand for new land in the Whitehorse area.

'Whitehorse is experiencing significant growth and (the government) needs to provide for that growth,' he said.

He said in previous meetings with MLAs, local residents had expressed concerns ranging from the enjoyment of existing open space, to development density and trail access.

Residents attending the open house were provided with a copy of the proposals, with the exception of the fifth option, as well as a survey.

The survey asked the following questions:

ï Out of the options, what meets your needs or reflects your preferences?

ï If you could change something about your preferred option, what would it be?

ï If none of these options reflect your preferences, which features do you like most and which do you not like?

ï Do you have any concerns or suggestions you would like to add to make this plan successful?

Residents were asked to submit their surveys by the end of September and were provided with an Inukshuk fax number, 667-4020, as well as a fax number for the YTG, 393-6216.

Answering questions from the Star prior to and during the open house portion of the meeting, several residents aired their views ranging from acceptance to condemnation.

Area resident Lewis MacGillivary said he had been a member of the planning committee and that the proposed development didn't bother him.

'It's inevitable, it will eventually happen and we won't be able to stop it,' he said.

Dan Nickason, a fellow resident and the area's volunteer fire chief, said many residents held the 'not in my backyard' view of the development.

He said he is not sure about the proposal but believes the process was fair.

'If you turn down the proposal, the developers will (eventually) get it anyway. At least this way, we have a say in the development,' Nickason said.

Resident Gwen Hanna and her daughter, Jaime, were both dead-set against development.

'If we wanted to live in town, we'd live in town. There's lots of other places they could build,' Gwen said.

She said she was upset with some of the proposals because they directly impacted her land.

'The boundary goes right through the middle of our corral. One line goes right through the middle of property that we have a lease on,' she said.

Jaime said she was concerned that new residents would complain about the animals on their property, including horses. She didn't want to see the development impact on the lifestyle she had been enjoying in the area.

Inukshuk planner Ian Robertson said the process has already been underway for some time and that there have already been some issues that have had to be addressed.

He said one such issue centred around residents' expectations that the area known as Pilot Two, which directly borders on existing development known as Pilot One, would be designated as green space before 'infilling' (adding to) existing development.

He said planners were unable to accommodate the residents' expectations because the Pilot Two area had been selected by a local aboriginal group as part of a land claims settlement.

Robertson said the lots ranged in size but that sizes reflected soil conditions, which affect the construction of buildings.

'Lot size is based on the suitability of the ground,' Robertson said.

'Some lots are bigger than others because of soil conditions; there has to be enough room for the septic systems,' he said.

According to YTG Engineering program manager Brian Ritchie, the public meeting was just the beginning of the process, which will have to go through several other stages before construction begins.

According to Ritchie, further stages in the process include:

ï The collection of comments from the survey distributed at last night's meeting.

ï Another public meeting and the presentation of an altered plan reflecting residents' concerns and desires.

ï An environmental impact assessment of the proposed development site.

ï A zoning amendment.

ï Subdivision approval.

ï Construction.

Ritchie told residents the lots would be sold in a lottery system with people interested in purchasing land submitting a deposit with their applications which list their lot choices from first to last selection.

The applications are then selected based on a lottery until all the lots are sold.

If there are remaining lots available after the lottery, they would be sold on the open market.

Anyone interested in seeing the design proposals or learning more about the proposed development should visit the YTG's community services website.