A fate of the first two phases of the city's next major residential development will soon be formally in the hands of the Yukon government.

On Monday evening, city council voted unanimously in favour of moving into a development agreement with the territory for the Whistle Bend subdivision.

The city has acted as the body in coming up with the new subdivision to be built on Porter Creek's lower bench over the last few years. The territory will act as the actual developer for the neighbourhood, where the first lots are expected to be sold in 2012.

The first two phases will see the development of 194 single-family, 34 duplex, 48 townhouse, 17 multiple family and three park lots along with a commercial and a community use site.

The agreement outlines the standards the government will have as it works on the new neighbourhood.

"The development agreement will set out the engineering and development standards which are applicable to the subdivision,” reads the administrative report presented to council by city planning manager Mike Gau.

"The development agreement sets out additional standards or requirements that have been developed through the planning process.”

The territory is set to meet standards set out in legislation along with additional requirements proposed by the city.

Among the newer standards, Whistle Bend will have narrower roads, a decision that comes out of traffic concerns in Copper Ridge.

There will also be more detailed drainage plans with sales agreements for individual properties to include information on directing water away from homes.

Engineering and geotechnical consultants will prepare drainage and clearing plans, with the city and territory to both agree on them, and some of the wood from the clearing will be made available to the public.

"All clearing and grubbing material over 15 centimetres at breast height will be salvaged for public use,” reads with report.

"The remaining material will be piled and burned using a curtain burner and/or open burn piles in non-fire season, as permitted by the (fire) chief.”

Coun. Dave Stockdale asked city manager Dennis Shewfelt about the road that's set to be built for the neighbourhood in the first two phases of the project.

Shewfelt stressed it will be a connector between Range Road and Mountainview Drive, and not across McIntyre Creek.

A potential crossing of the creek that was looked at in an earlier study raised the ire of many individuals and organizations such as the Friends of McIntyre Creek and the Yukon Conservation Society during the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) review of the project's first two phases.

The study had suggested that if traffic levels remain the same, a new road crossing McIntyre Creek may be necessary once Whistle Bend's population reaches 1,000.

While that population figure is a possibility for the first two phases of the neighbourhood, YESAB officials have stated a separate review would be required before that new road could be developed.

However, the Whistle Bend Way, linking Range Road and Mountainview Drive, would be developed in the first phases, it was noted at Monday's meeting.

Construction on the first two phases of Whistle Bend is expected to begin this spring, continuing to the fall of 2013.

Properties developed in the first phase will be put in a lottery in the fall of 2012, with the phase two lots becoming available the following year.

Coun. Doug Graham was absent from Monday's meeting.