City council has delayed passage of its new zoning bylaw pending a meeting with the Kwanlin Dun First Nation (KDFN).

The decision at Monday night's council meeting follows concerns expressed to council by KDFN Chief Mike Smith.

Smith's concerns centred around a proposed Territorial Contracting Ltd. concrete batch plant and quarry operation behind Sleeping Giant Hill in the McLean Lake area.

Smith told council in a letter read by a representative that the proposed industrial project would have negative impacts on prime parcels of land in the area the band selected during the land claims process.

Following a motion made by Coun. Bev Buckway, council members agreed to delay passage of the new zoning bylaw by two weeks until city and KDFN officials could discuss the matter.

'I'd like to move that we delay this for two weeks so we can meet with the KDFN,' Buckway told her fellow councillors.

'I think it's important that we consult with them,' added Coun. Doug Graham.

The city's new zoning bylaw, Bylaw 2006-01, has been the subject of a number of concerns expressed to council by Whitehorse residents in general and the McLean Lake Residents Association in particular.

A number of association members told council they oppose allowing for the concrete batch plant and quarry in the zoning bylaw as they felt it would negatively impact the residents' quality of life; lead to air and water pollution; would be aesthetically unpleasant; and could lead to more industrial activity in the area.

Representatives of Territorial Contracting Ltd. maintain:

• there would be no water pollution, as they would be using groundwater;

• the location is a good zoning move, as it is already home to more than six quarry operations and a contaminated land site; and

• that they have already gone through the legal process, including an environmental assessment of the area.

Association members also told council the area may still be a game reserve as it received that designation from the Yukon commissioner of the day in 1953.

Yukon government legal authorities have said the designation no longer applies as it was effectively removed from the books in 1958.