Yellowknife’s latest draft community plan update introduces a set of new policies that would transform an area bordering Frame Lake into residential housing and open the door for commercial development along a section of Highway 3.

A proposed residential area around Frame Lake would receive half of the new housing built in the city up until 2050. Development alongside the highway would act as a gateway to the potential Arctic and Economic and Security Corridor.

City staff presented the draft community plan update to city council at a committee meeting Wednesday.

The community plan is a high level policy framework for the city that sets out priorities and guidance for the city’s growth over the next 25 years, meant to be updated regularly along the way.

“This is probably the most important, or arguably one of the most important policies that council weighs in on, next to the budget,” Coun. Ryan Fequet said. 

The update process has been ongoing since last spring, and the latest draft factors in community engagement. 

Housing policy

The draft update adds a housing policy component to the community plan, setting a target for a minimum of 2,000 new residential units to be built in Yellowknife by 2050.

It allocates the most new housing to single-detached homes and “missing middle” housing — a catchall for homes that fall between mid-rise apartments and single family houses — setting targets of 30 per cent each. 

Some councillors raised concerns that the level of detail in the housing policy may have adverse or unintended consequences.

“I’m just wary of creating some boxes that we might get ourselves trapped in,” said Coun. Tom McLennan.

Coun. Rob Warburton said he worried some criteria could add up to a prohibitive amount of expenses that would turn away developers, or be used to prevent development altogether. 

“This is gonna be just a can of worms that we’re gonna open up to every single person that doesn’t want something built beside them,” he said.

Land use planning

The plan to build half of the new housing in a proposed Frame Lake neighbourhood hinges on the territorial government agreeing to transfer a portion of the land in the area to the city, which has yet to pass.

City staff told councillors the existing Frame Lake trail would be preserved, though part of its path may need to be adjusted. 

The other half of the housing would be built in existing residential areas, with an emphasis on adding more homes downtown and along Old Airport Road to introduce more activity to the area after business hours. 

The draft plan also gives consideration to the establishment of temporary workforce accommodations, permitting long-term ones in Kam Lake and Kam Lake South, which may be needed to house an influx of workers tied to federal defence investments and major projects.

It also introduces a new policy to designate land along Highway 3 — roughly from Old Airport Road to the Jackfish power plant — for commercial use. 

This would allow truck stops, restaurants and hotels to be built in the area as traffic through Yellowknife increases on the way to a potential Arctic Economic and Security Corridor.

The area around Con Mine would also receive a mineral extraction designation from the city to stop new development from preventing future mining there.

City council and staff will continue to discuss the draft community plan update in the coming weeks and months, including considerations relating to the environment, transportation and municipal infrastructure. 

The city is still welcoming written input from the public, and a public hearing is tentatively scheduled for June. After city council adopts the final version of the plan, the city plans to send it to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs at the end of July.