The chancellor of Yukon College wants the Porter Creek D area set side for the school's expansion rather than a new subdivision.

Rolf Hougen told the Star Monday that once the new houses are built in the planned new Porter Creek subdivision, all other options are gone.

He wants the land left available for when the college expands into a university in the longer term.

Premier Darrell Pasloski promised during this year's election campaign that the Yukon Party would turn the college into a northern university should it form a third straight government.

But Pasloski didn't say how long this might take, nor where new buildings would go.

Hougen thinks it could take 10, 20 or even 50 years.

"If we block it off now, we have nowhere for the university to go,” Hougen said.

He said the new subdivision area is the only land to erect structures on, as most of the surrounding area is hilly and can't be built on.

City council voted to proceed with planning and design of the subdivision at its Dec. 12 meeting. Members approved a $420,000 contract to advance the development proposal.

As some councillors pointed out that night, Hougen doesn't think the contract award means the whole project is a "done deal”.

He said he would have no problem with the new subdivision if it helped solved the city's immediate housing crisis. Since development wouldn't be done for years, Hougen doesn't think that's the case.

He emphasized that he is not speaking on behalf of the college.

He did, though, say the board of governors passed a resolution recently which expressed its desire to have land set aside for the future development of a university.

"If we don't preserve these lands, we are jeopardizing the future of a Yukon university.”

College president Karen Barnes told the Star today the college was originally allocated a much larger parcel of land, which did include the Porter Creek D area.

But since there's been so much growth in the city, a lot of the land has been encroached upon, she continued. The current campus opened in the fall of 1988.

In 2006, the college board worked out new boundaries with city, as laid out in the Official Community Plan, Barnes said.

That included boundaries from McIntyre Creek to Range Road to the Alaska Highway and Mountainview Drive. It did not include the Porter Creek D area.

This deal still needs to be signed off by the Yukon government and the city.

Barnes said the fact that the new land doesn't include the Porter Creek D area is "regrettable”, but she understands there are a lot of pressures and stakeholders involved in this controversial piece of land.

Barnes said Hougen has been working on the vision of a university for the past 40 years.

"He retains that vision, and is happy about the new conversations happening about it,” she said.

Todd Hardy, the late leader of the Yukon NDP, also advocated the college eventually evolving into a university.

The issue of endowment lands was brought up during question period in the legislature last week, too.

Lois Moorcroft, the NDP MLA for Copperbelt South, asked if the government will transfer land to the college for its future growth.

The college needs land now for the new mine training facility, student housing and a possible university, Moorcroft said.

Education Minister Scott Kent said discussions with the college are ongoing.

He said the government is committed to providing land for a new students' residence and a new building for the planned new school of mining, if it's necessary.

Kent agrees with the NDP in that there's no way around it — the college needs more space to grow.

"The college is bursting at the seams as far as land goes.”