The Yukon's new environmental review authority is assessing a private proposal to build a home on government land along the Fish Lake Road that has been rejected by the territorial government three times.

Late this summer, the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) will submit its review to the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR) for a decision on Kilometre 4.2 Fish Lake Road the same government department which has repeatedly rejected the very same proposal.

The proposal to build a country residential home at Ksilometre 4.2 Fish Lake Road, according to YESAB documents available at www.yesab.ca, is being put forward by Whitehorse residents Jonathan and Laura Lucas.

According to EMR lands branch documents, the Lucas' proposal has been rejected on a number of occasions including: once in 2004 along with 25 other applications in what was described by some as a land grab; once in January of 2006 and once last month.

Under current regulations, the cost for YESAB's review is not the responsibility of project proponents and is paid for using Yukon taxpayer dollars.

In an interview this morning, Bryony McIntyre, EMR's lands branch client services manager, said the reasons a review a YESAB review was going forward on a project that had already been rejected is due to current legislation.

'This could happen on first nations land ... and it could happen on government land because you do not need the consent of a land owner to conduct a review,' she said.

She said the Lucas' were made aware the project would not go forward before they took their project to YESAB in June to begin the review process.

Asked this morning why YESAB would review a proposal on government land that had already been rejected by government, YESAB project officer Keith Maguire said the reason is the law.

'What has happened, is a project has been submitted to the Whitehorse District Office (by the Lucas') the proposal included activities that meet our criteria.'

The criteria, according to Maguire, must answer three questions including: Is there a grant of interest required in land, and is a permit required from government; be it federal, territorial or first nation? Is it in the Yukon? Is there an activity in the project included in YESAB's regulations?

He said when he first spoke to the proponent, the proponent was aware that his application would never be accepted by the lands branch.

Maguire said he could not comment on the cost of the assessment at the present time but said the review would be submitted to EMR in mid-July.

McIntyre said she too made the Lucas' aware that their project would not be accepted by EMR's lands branch and had also submitted information to YESAB's review saying the same thing.

In a June 28 letter to the Lucas', McIntyre said the reason the application was being rejected was for the same reasons given in 2004 and the same reasons the application was rejected last January.

'Thank you for your rural residential application on the Fish Lake Road dated June 2, 2006.

'We have reviewed your application and note that it is in the same location as your original application 2004-0271 made in 2004 and a subsequent request (on) January 6, 2006,' McIntyre's letter reads.

'As such, determinations made regarding the original application remain applicable for this new one, and I am returning your new application with this letter.'

McIntyre's letter also states the reason the lands branch continues to reject the Lucas' application is because there is no district or regional planning scheme for the area as recommended by the Land Advisory Review Committee (LARC) in 2005.

'In our letter dated January 25, 2006, we advised that (the lands branch) based the decision on the LARC recommendation of 2005, and is not supporting review of an application at Fish Lake at this time.

'As you know the LARC recommendation was that district or regional planning should take place for the lands near Fish Lake prior to further dispositions. Your individual application was carefully re-examined and the decision to deny the application was not varied.'

Since making its decision in 2005, LARC's responsibilities have been replaced by YESAB's.

In a June submission to YESAB from the EMR lands branch, branch officials stated they are unlikely to consider any applications for the area until a regional planning scheme had been drafted.

'The bulk of applications for rural residential sites along the Fish Lake Road were received by the lands branch in fall of 2004. This resulted in review through the Land Application Review process (LARC) of 26 land applications,' the submission reads.

'The LARC recommendation to lands branch was to deny all the applications submitted for review. It was recognized that the Fish Lake area was never identified for rural residential development and that the applications cannot be approved or supported in the absence of regional or district use planning.'

Responding to questions from the Star, Jonathan Lucas said he preferred not to comment on the matter.

'Presently we are in the middle of the YESAB process and don't feel it would be appropriate to comment publicly on our application.

'Our application has been deemed complete by YESAB and is now in the consultation stage. All documents regarding the application are publicly available on the YESAB website,' Lucas said in an e-mail.