Whitehorse residents will be able to vote in a citywide referendum June 22 on how green space should be managed.

At their weekly meeting Tuesday evening, members of city council voted to carry one green space bylaw, 2006-10, to referendum while electing to pass the other, 2006-11, on their own on June 12.

The green space bylaws were driven by a petition circulated by the Porter Creek Community Association and presented to the city earlier this year.

Bylaw 2006-10, the referendum bylaw, binds council to hold a citywide vote any time an area designated as green space in the Official Community Plan (OCP) is proposed to be rezoned.

Bylaw 2006-11, the planning study bylaw, requires a planning study and a green space map be compiled by the developer as part of any preliminary development process of any size.

Bylaw 2006-11 also calls for an area plebiscite, a non-binding vote by area residents, to approve the green-space map.

Both bylaws have been through several amendments, available along with the amendments on the city's website, over the past several months.

Speaking to his fellow members of council, Coun. Doug Graham said while there have been a number of concerns raised about having a developer draft a planning study and green space map, he is confident the issue won't be a problem.

'These studies have to be done to city standards Often, the developer will pay the city to come up with a plan,' he said.

In an interview outside city hall Tuesday, association president Carole Bookless said she had mixed feelings over council's decision.

She said that while the referendum bylaw, 2006-10, is close to what petitioners were calling for, the planning bylaw, 2006-11, isn't.

'Bylaw 2006-11 is a lot closer but what we wanted was a green space plan for every neighbourhood, not for development,' she said.

'I think the concept (of a green space plan for every neighbourhood) seems to have gone over council's head,' Bookless said.

In an interview following Tuesday evening's meeting, Robert Fendrick, the city's director of administrative services, said the city's administration will now be engaging in an information campaign to inform residents of the pros and cons of the bylaws and to encourage people to vote.

'What it is, is a communication strategy; we want to make sure people have the information they need to vote,' he said.

'It's not a campaign to say this bylaw (2006-11) is bad, it's just to provide people with information,' Fendrick said.

Council members, Fendrick added, could also be voicing their own opinions on the matter.

Mayor Ernie Bourassa has said in the past the results of the referendum stand to have huge implications for the city's future development directions.