City council has put on hold the idea of eight-storey buildings in downtown Whitehorse.

At their meeting Monday evening, members of council voted in favour of a planning department recommendation to keep the city's building height restrictions at four storeys.

Voting against eight storeys but speaking in favour of them, Coun. Dave Austin said while council was voting in favour of the planning department's recommendation, the discussion would come up again.

'This isn't over as far as I'm concerned; we do need higher buildings,' Austin said.

Earlier this month, the city's planning department reversed its eight-storey building height recommendation in the wake of public opposition and asked council to consider leaving the four-storey clause in the Downtown Plan.

The Downtown Plan, if adopted, would replace sections of the city's Official Community Plan (OCP) as the guiding document for the city's core.

Coun. Florence Roberts said she doesn't have a problem with higher buildings either, as long as they don't ruin the look of the downtown area.

'I don't have any objection to the size of the buildings downtown either. I do not want to see the character of our downtown destroyed so we look like Calgary or Vancouver,' she said.

Coun. Jeanine Myhre told members of the audience to expect the matter to come up again when the OCP goes through a public review next year.

Rick Karp, president of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, said the city's business community would like the opportunity to have higher buildings.

'Mayor and council, the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce has been involved in the development of the Downtown Plan, the retail strategy and waterfront development with the Yukon territorial government,' Karp said.

'Part of that has been to prevent development from moving out of the downtown.

'It is critical that we have the capacity for more density,' Karp said, explaining that with space running out, the only way to go is up.

Karp said his office sees investors from southern Canada with 'deep pockets' come into his office on a weekly basis but forcing more restrictions on them would not likely encourage them to spend their money in Whitehorse.

'It's very important we don't leave the height restrictions as four storeys. It is very important that we allow developers to go to six or eight storeys in certain areas,' Karp said.

'When you go to six or eight storeys, you get a better return on investment.'

Appearing last night as a private citizen, former mayor Ernie Bourassa said he feels council must consider the future growth of the city and raise building heights.

'The downtown needs development; eight storeys will make it more affordable to do that,' said Bourassa, who was defeated in last October's election by successor Bev Buckway.

Bourassa said going to eight storeys would also show that Whitehorse is doing its part to help the environment.

'In an era of global warming, we should allow people to live where they work and work where they live; it would help with greenhouse gases,' he said.

'It is a way to help without adversely affecting people's pockets.'

The city, Bourassa added, would also benefit from the enriched tax dollars that tall building owners would have to pay.

He said that further populating the downtown core would also encourage people to use Main Street more at night and make it a safer and more friendly environment for older citizens who may want to frequent the area.

'Do you want the downtown to be as it is now or do you want it to be vibrant?' he asked.

'I know this is a difficult decision but no more difficult than the others you have made thus far in your term.'

Speaking during an interview with the Star earlier on Monday, Karp said, 'We need to attract business; we need to densify the downtown.

'With four storeys, you need an elevator; with three storeys, you don't.'

Leaving the four-storey height limit will force businesses to seek other areas of town to build in, said Karp, who has been a businessman in Whitehorse for 22 years.

'Don't restrict future development. Otherwise, you'll have things spilling out onto the (Alaska) highway,' he said.