The long-time owners of Alpine Aviation say they were pressured into signing a business permit that will cause them to lose 25 per cent of their business’ capabilities.

“(The city) is taking away our dock with heavy-handed permitting; with clauses that are making it almost impossible to operate,” Gerd Mannsperger told the Star this morning. “We’re being pressured and bullied.”

Alpine Aviation operates three docks on Schwatka Lake. Last spring, Mannsperger signed a permit that required he either dismantle or sell one of the docks by Aug. 28, a clause that will be enforced via a city inspection on Wednesday.

“That’s a pressure tactic to make sure we sign the dock away, so they don’t have to take it away,” Mannsperger said.

Mannsperger said he signed the permit under duress in order to keep his business in operation. He is now required to surrender Dock 11, a space that is “crucial” to his business.

It currently hosts three aircraft: two belonging to Alpine and one open space for transient traffic.

Dock 11 is currently utilized by travellers, private entrepreneurs and outfitting companies as a service dock and tie-up space.

“We always kept that open, for the needs of other people,” Mannsperger said. “We’re the only place on the lake that has somebody there all the time to ensure the safety of the aircraft.”

Limited dock space has been a contentious issue at Schwatka Lake for several years.

Mannsperger said that in previous years, he was pressured by the city to bid for space at the north end of the lake, which is owned by the city. It was previously operated by Blacksheep Aviation, and now Alkan Air.

“Alkan Air has a much bigger company than us; how can we bid on that?” Mannsperger asked.

“They bought the base because it’s really important for their operation; I just can’t go and backstab my colleagues.”

Mannsperger said he was advised by the city that “all his problems would go away” if he went for Alkan Air’s newly leased area.

However, the Alkan Air base is a more industrial installation, with a hangar for storing large equipment, and not appropriate for Alpine.

The City of Whitehorse has been working to free up dock space to service the 16 people currently on the wait list for dock space on Schwatka.

In June, the Star reported the estimated wait time for dock space would be six to nine years. If Mannsperger sells Dock 11, it would go to the first person on the wait list, a private operator.

Mannsperger is frustrated, saying the city hasn’t moved forward on the Schwatka Lake area plan since its adoption in 2015. It promised additional float plane infrastructure, including more dock space. The city has been criticized for dragging its feet on the plan in the past several years, though it says it’s working on implementation.

“Let’s work together to make this a better place, and move forward on the 2015 plan. That would alleviate all the fighting,” Mannsperger said.

On the company’s Facebook page, Alpine Air invited Yukoners to attend the city’s final inspection at the dock on Wednesday morning and show their support for the business.

“The city has been gunning for us, and it’s essentially bullying,” Gerd Mannsperger told the Star this morning.

“What we tell the kids not to do is totally acceptable in politics and in business, it seems.”

Upon requests for comment, the city informed the Star this morning they “do not have anything to share concerning this issue.”