The Phoenix Rising will have some red tape to poke through in its climb out of the ashes.

It was learned at Monday night's city council meeting that a conditional use permit will be required for the housing development Habitat for Humanity and the Yukon Housing Corp. are partnering on at 810 Wheeler St.

The Phoenix Rising is proposed on the site of a former drug house that was ripped down last summer.

The housing corporation purchased the property from its former owner, Natalie Stinson of Edmonton (who inherited it after her mother died) for $163,000.

The corporation then donated the property to Habitat for Humanity, which builds homes for people who can't afford a traditional mortgage.

"The project's called Phoenix Rising because out of the ashes of tragedy will be something of great hope and beauty, and that's what we're aiming for," Todd Hardy, Habitat for Humanity's president, explained last year when the project was announced.

As it moves toward the construction season, Yukon Housing is now asking the city for the conditional use to build a three-unit, townhouse style development on the downtown property that's zoned Residential Downtown 1.

The project would see the units built to face the Cook Street Park.

Preliminary designs included in council's package show the main floor on each townhouse having an entrance foyer leading into to a family room. A kitchen, dining area and office, washroom and laundry area are also on the main floor of each unit, with the rooms varying in size for each unit.

Bedrooms would be on the second floor with the two end units each featuring three bedrooms. The middle unit would have a smaller bonus room in addition to the two bedrooms on its upper level. The second level also includes a washroom in all three.

Outside, there would one parking stall for each behind the townhouses.

The development, it was noted in the report to council, is very similar to what was built at 802 Wheeler St. last year, with the exception that this will have crawl spaces rather than full basements.

Although the Residential Downtown 1 zone requires multi-family developments to get a conditional use permit, the proposal meets the Residential - Downtown designation set out in the city's Official Community Plan (OCP).

"The OCP states that this area is to be used for single-family residential, multi-family residential, and park-related uses," reads the administrative report.

"The character of the neighbourhood is to be protected by encouraging compatible development and upgrading of established housing stock."

The structure will be designed using the traditional peaked roofs and covered porches, and though it's larger than the typical single-family houses in the area, it is compatible with the architectural style of the area, planning manager Mike Gau told council.

The plan would see the density of the area increased from its current 22 units per hectare to 65 units per hectare.

"Increasing residential density in the downtown is generally deemed positive from a planning perspective as it helps to increase the vibrancy of the downtown and allows people to live close to where they work," reads the report.

Yukon Housing is proposing the setback for the front yard be cut back from 4.6 metres to one metre to allow for the three parking stalls.

Under the zoning bylaw, the minimum front yard setbacks can be reduced provided off-street parking is at the rear, as proposed.

The project is also set to be built to Super GreenHome standards and be used as a trades training project through Yukon College and for housing construction education initiatives.

"While, strictly speaking, these matters are not related to consideration of permitting the development of a multiple housing project on the site as a conditional use, staff strongly support these initiatives and want to bring them to council's attention," reads the report.

A public input session on the application will be held at council's April 27 meeting. That will be followed by a further report to council on May 4, with council voting on it at its May 11 meeting.

It's expected construction could start in May.

Councillors Dave Stockdale and Jan Stick were absent from Monday night's meeting.