While Whitehorse tries to find its way out of its so-called land crunch, the Ta'an Kwach'an Council (TKC) is moving ahead with plans for a new subdivision.

Deputy chief Gail Anderson told the Star Wednesday the TKC owns 47 pieces of land within Whitehorse, and an additional seven outside city limits.

As for a new 47-hectare subdivision, 'The land use plan is done,' said Anderson.

The subdivision sits along the North Klondike Highway, across from Hidden Valley, and will become roughly 30 lots to host housing development, she said.

'We're looking at long-term leases,' she said. 'Meaning 99 years.' This is similar to the agricultural leases with the Yukon government, she said.

The location was chosen as the best site for a future subdivision because 'it is compatible with the current country-residential designation, and within close proximity of the city and services.'

On the TKC's to-do list remain plans to map the area, perform a heritage assessment, a geotechnical survey, develop a conceptual subdivision design, and submit a project proposal to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB).

The (TKC) must also get city zoning approval and create a final engineering design, or blueprints, of the subdivision.

Within the proposed subdivision, which Anderson envisions undergoing construction by March 31, 2008, all natural resources and ecosystems will be protected and respected.

The subdivision site contains some greenbelt-designated land, although Anderson was not sure how much.

'We've been here for hundreds of years, we depend on these things to sustain our way of life,' she said.

The TKC way of life still includes traditional activities, such as hunting and berry-picking, which would be allowed in the rural parts of the proposed subdivision by TKC members.

While today's families rarely live in traditional housing with the availability of modern conveniences and comforts, Anderson said she hopes traditional elements can be included into modern architecture.

She said she has studied some first nation communities that employ traditional housing elements, such as the Little Big House in Esquimalt, B.C., and would be delighted if such concepts were made to work here.

Anderson and the TKC have not yet decided who they will have living in the new subdivision, but she hints it will not be solely for the use of TKC members.

'We'll be aiming it at higher-income people so we gain the benefit of higher taxes from the property,' she said. There are estimated to be just over 200 TKC members living in the Yukon.

Similar to other governments, the TKC uses taxation income to fund programs and services for the people of its self-governing first nation. The TKC signed its land claim and self-government agreement in January 2002.

While the subdivision is likely to be used by a mix of TKC and non-TKC families, in the land development plan, she said, preference will likely be given to developers who will hire TKC members to perform some of the labour.

In the meantime, Anderson said the TKC is also entertaining different ways to develop a number of other, smaller, pieces of land the TKS owns within Whitehorse city limits.