Dog lots, tourism, and the city's future: Yellowknifers weigh in on community plan

A plan on how to shape the city of Yellowknife over the next two decades is slowly getting closer to approval — but even after 18 months, some residents are still struggling to get on board.

The community plan is meant to be a "road map for how land will be used and planned" over the next 20 years, according to the city's website.

At a public hearing Monday night, Yellowknifers told city council what they thought of the draft plan. The majority of people who spoke largely supported it, but had some concerns.

Part of the plan allows for dog kennel lots to be expanded on several properties within the newly proposed subdivision Kam Lake South.

There's been tension between dog mushers and frustrated neighbours for years.

This summer, the dog mushers and the city ended a decades-long battle over whether to boot them from Kam Lake, after they were originally moved there by the city.

Jackie Hawthorn said she just wants to get along with her neighbours.

"I think [dog mushing is] super important to our community, but at the same time we all have to live in the community together and in peace," she said.

Hawthorn said she and her family knew how noisy the area would be when they moved to Kam Lake.

"I did think though, at the time, that the city was pulling back on the really close location of kennels," she said, adding residents were promised "good will" from the city, something she said the plan wasn't keeping.

"Forty years ago, good will was also given out to mushers," said Coun. Stacie Smith.

Some neighbours called for the dog mushers to only be allowed to expand on a lot further south, which they said would help reduce noise for residential areas.

'We need space for expansion'

The Yellowknife Dog Trotters Association doesn't like that restriction, according to President Jordee Reid. Reid supports the draft plan as is.

"This expansion plan involves the option for dog mushers to purchase lots at market price ... to be zoned so that they can live next to their sled dog kennel," she said. "Currently in Yellowknife ... there's no place to do this.

"We need space for expansion, and Kam Lake South is the only space," she said.

"People who are opposed are fighting for their homes," said Reid, "But I feel like we're fighting for more. We're fighting for our identity, our culture, our way of life, our family."

Peter Curran has been vocal about the issue of dog mushers in Kam Lake. He said the area has a "decades-long issue of incompatible development ... since its inception."

He wants to make sure lots are planned to avoid conflicts in the future.

Some residents also said they wanted larger buffer zones to separate residential areas from dog kennels.

Don't limit tourism

Another issue, unrelated to dogs, was also raised around tourism. Part of the draft plan reads that "no accommodation for tourists will be permitted in Kam Lake."

That's different than what Eric Sputek said the city told him months ago.

"Five, ten years down the road we don't know what the tourism industry is going to be in the Northwest Territories and in Yellowknife," he said. He points to activities like dog mushing, aurora viewing, and cross country skiing as potential draws for visitors to Kam Lake.

"There's huge potential sitting east and south of us [in Kam Lake]."

At a meeting on Tuesday, council moved to amend some of the wording in the draft plan to allow animal services and animal shelters in Kam Lake.

Horticulture would also be permitted, but not agriculture.

No changes were made to the wording of tourist accommodations.

A second reading of the draft plan, where city councillors will further discuss the issues residents raised, is scheduled for Dec. 19.