The Yukon government could be held to almost 40 conditions when it develops the city's next major residential subdivision in Whistle Bend if it goes ahead with the proposed recommendations from the Yukon Environmental Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB).

The board released its 83-page report detailing the 38 recommendations it is proposing for the 295-lot development.

The territory's Department of Community Services applied for the YESAB review as the developer of the proposed residential subdivision on Porter Creek's lower bench.

However, the city has been planning the new neighbourhood for a number of years.

While the first two phases are expected to be developed into 2012, the overall area is expected to provide the city with lot development over the next 20 years or longer.

"The Whitehorse designated office, pursuant to section 56 (1)b of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act, recommends to the decision body(s) that the project be allowed to proceed, subject to specified terms and conditions, as the designated office has determined that the project will have significant adverse environmental or socio-economic effects in or outside of Yukon that can be mitigated by those terms and conditions,” states the YESAB report.

It then outlines its recommendations.

Those urgings, spread over five pages, include everything from re-vegetation of disturbed areas to having no habitat-clearing between May 1 and July 31 to limit the impact on nesting birds and their off-spring.

Dorothy Bradley, president of the Friends of McIntyre Creek, told the Star this morning she doesn't have a big problem with what's proposed for the first two phases of the development.

What will come after that continues to be a problem for her.

”It disturbs me that they can't be honest,” she said of both the city and territory.

She cited the group's previously stated concerns over a proposed new road that would cross McIntyre Creek in the future stages of Whistle Bend.

Numerous groups and individuals expressed similar concerns at a public meeting held during the consultation phase of the YESAB review of the project.

They raised a traffic study done a couple of years ago that showed if traffic flows continue as they currently do, the Whistle Bend development would require another road that would cross at McIntyre Creek.

The city's most recent draft of the proposed Official Community Plan (OCP) also includes plans to develop a new section of Porter Creek called Porter Creek D.

City staff have said the focus will be on developing Whistle Bend in the coming years before moving on to Porter Creek D.

Bradley argued the city could see the road construction as a good time to install city services for Porter Creek D and that, inevitably, would be followed by lot development in the area.

Bradley recalled a meeting she was at a number of years ago where many people argued against moving ahead with Whistle Bend, but also said no to Porter Creek D because of the impact it could have on McIntyre Creek.

At the time, city staff seemed to agree with the public, and that has Bradley wondering what happened to those plans.

With the road not part of the first two phases of development, the YESAB did not review that part of the plan for this approval.

As it was explained by officials at an earlier meeting, the process involves the detailed plans for the first two phases.

If the road were to go ahead, it would be subject to a YESAB review.

Like Bradley, the Yukon Conservation Society is continuing to express concerns about the proposed roadway that's not outlined to be part of the first two phases of Whistle Bend.

Karen Baltgailis, the society's executive director, said this morning that by doing the assessments in different phases, the YESAB really isn't looking at the cumulative effects of the new neighbourhood.

"It is really disappointing that again we're getting a piecemeal assessment,” she said.

The transportation study suggests the road will be needed when the city's population reaches at least 25,000 and at least 1,000 residents are living in Whistle Bend, provided transportation patterns stay the same.

Whitehorse's most recent population figures show there are 25,690 people living in the city. It's expected about 1,800 people will take up home in the first two phases of Whistle Bend.

Baltgailis echoed Bradley's concerns over the possibility of developing Porter Creek D. She noted the conservation society will be keeping a close eye on the OCP process.

Sections of the draft OCP include clauses that could allow that and other roads to be developed through environmentally sensitive areas, she added.

Baltgailis said she hopes council pays attention to the concerns of many residents who have spoken out against the road development when it considers documents like the OCP.

While the society's major concerns are mainly over the roads and potential future development of Porter Creek D, she also cited smaller issues.

Those include the lack of a trail running around the entire subdivision, as was initially suggested, and the reduction of the proposed Eagle Bay Park from 16 to 14 hectares.

"That's a lot when you're talking about a small park,” Baltgailis said.