It's looking more and more like a green light for a new private-sector subdivision development in the city, says a partner in the proposal.

Dale Best pointed out this week members of city council voted unanimously this month to make the necessary changes to the Official Community Plan required for the 145-lot proposal at the site of the former McKenzie RV Park immediately south of Crestview.

Further meetings last week with officials in the planning department did not identify any insurmountable obstacles to rezone the five-hectare-parcel back to the residential designation it once had before if was rezoned for the RV park, he said.

Best said if things proceed as expected, he and Bob Darling and Darling's son Scott expect to be breaking ground this spring, with the first lots available in September.

"I am pretty confident,” Best said of the likelihood of moving forward.

"As soon as we get this finalized, we are going to be breaking ground as soon as the frost leaves.”

The development would provide titled lots for 25 mini- or mobile homes measuring 1,000 square feet in size, and 120 two- and three-bedroom townhouses measuring 1,792 square feet, he said.

The subdivision, he said, would be fully serviced and tied into the city's system water and sewer system.

Best said under the preliminary plans to date, the two-bedroom, two-storey townhouses would start at under $250,000. While they would be the same size as the three-bedroom, the basements would not be finished.

The three-bedroom units would go for under $280,000, and all the townhouses would have their land title with front and back yards and a general common area, much like the Lewes Village townhouse development in Riverdale, he said.

Best noted that Bob Darling, a former Whitehorse businessman who used to own the Coca-Cola franchise and still has investments in town, has undertaken similar housing projects in New Brunswick.

"He's built over 800 homes,” said Best. "He does this for a living.”

There's already a manufacturing company lined up for construction of the mobile homes which offers a suite of different designs for buyers to choose from, he said.

Best said both the mini-homes and townhouses would the meet the new city standard of R-28 walls with R-50 ceilings

"They'll be easy to heat and easy to maintain.”

The intent is to use the sales of the mobile home lots to help finance construction of the townhouse development, the first portion of which the partnership would like to have available in 2013, he said.

Best said sale of the mobile home lots would be on a first-come, first-served basis, with buyers able to pick their choice of locations.

While the area which served as the RV park is relatively flat, the elevation in a section of the proposed subdivision climbs to a height where one can see Lake Laberge, he said.

Subdivision development in the city by the private sector is rare, and almost unheard of when it comes to urban lots.

Almost always, housing initiatives by the private sector involve unserviced country residential developments like Fox Haven next to the Meadow Lake Golf Course, or Raven's Ridge adjacent to the Mount McIntyre cross-country ski trails.

But rarely, if ever, has the private sector come forward with its own tract of land with a proposal for a new, fully serviced subdivision.

"I think city council is quite happy about it because this could be a template for further development so they don't have to do it,” said Best.

With the current squeeze on the availability of residential building lots, there's been talk at the city and territorial level to about coming up with ways to bring more private-sector investment to the table.

The Yukon government, for instance, sent out a call in November asking for expressions of interest "to contribute to the design or potential approaches for developing affordable rental units on private and/or Yukon land.”

The request identified the four-hectare parcel of Yukon government land south of the Northland Mobile Park as an area for consideration, because it's already identified for residential use and it's right next to existing water and sewer mains.

As a result of the call for expressions of interest, 14 submissions were received, Colin McDowell, the government's director of land management, said this week.

McDowell said a committee of government and city representatives is putting together a summary of the submissions for consideration by senior management and ultimately the territorial cabinet, which initiated the request.

The summary, he explained, will include a description of the type of barriers the private sector has identified and an outline of what is needed to match the interests of the private sector with the government's needs.

"They have all said various things,” said McDowell of the 14 submissions.

McDowell said he expects the report will go up the ladder toward the end of January. Soon after that, he expects it will be shared with the parties who made submissions and the general public.

From the start, the goal was to have housing units available for Jan. 1, 2013, he said.