Commercial lots proposed for gardens area

Plans to subdivide Yukon Gardens at the top of Robert Service Way into 19 highway commercial lots were unveiled for city council Tuesday night.

Plans to subdivide Yukon Gardens at the top of Robert Service Way into 19 highway commercial lots were unveiled for city council Tuesday night.

Lorne Metropolit told council he’s put the last 25 years of his heart and soul into the property, but that now it’s time to move on to plan for his family’s future.

The intent is to provide 19 commercial lots. However, it’s his desire and that of his wife, Jean, to make the commercial subdivision a green development, with no gas stations or large truck yards and such, he said.

Metropolit’s plans also provide for a public access into the rear area of the property, which he proposed to turn over to the city under the city’s policy requiring a donation of land or money when private land owners subdivide.

The area at the rear of the property proposed for the public dedication, including a small lake and rock cliffs, is magnificent in its beauty and environmental uniqueness, he told council.

Before he gained ownership of the parcel, however, the area at the rear was a cesspool of broken glass, burned freight pallets and trees. There were also truck loads upon truck loads of other garbage left behind by regular partiers there.

It was a place where locals went to remove birch trees and ferns. It’s the only place in the Yukon where you’ll find cattails, and has become sensitive habitat for some wildlife in the last 15 years, he told council.

Metropolit said while he recognizes the need for public access to the pond area, he pleaded with city council to make the access restricted to city vehicles and other emergency vehicles, if the plan is approved.

Allowing wide-open access again, he suggested, could return the rear of the property area back to the party days of the early 1980s, while destroying the environmental gem it has become.

There is access from the south side used by rock climbers hiking into the rock climbing wall, and trails leading into the area from the west and north, he pointed out.

Metropolit suggested restricting access from the east, though the proposed commercial subdivision wouldn’t be a burden to those who hike into the area now.

“This is a sensitive point for me, because I feel the area is so special.“

The property is currently zoned highway commercial. Approving the application would not require any public input, though council was told Tuesday it can impose conditions on the development if it approves the application.

Coun. Florence Roberts questioned Metropolit’s empassioned plea for protection of the rear area.

While calling for restricted access on one hand, Roberts said, on the other, the applicant is proposing a commercial subdivision next door.

Metropolit recalled in an interview this morning that he entered into a lease arrangement with the Yukon government in 1984 to use the property to provide a privately-owned botanical garden, with an interpretive centre.

Once he’d fulfilled the terms of the lease, he pointed out, he was free to buy the property and all stipulations would be removed.

It’s a similar situation to farmers being free to do what they want with their agricultural leases once they fulfill certain obligations and get title.

Metropolit purchased the property in the late 1990s.

Coun. Dave Stockdale asked city administration last night to provide a history of the property. Council, Stockdale has suggested, has made its fair share of decisions regarding the property.

Stockdale also asked city officials to look into the proposal by Metropolit to name the main road into the commercial cul-de-sac Metropolit Way.

Council questioned the wisdom of permitting developers to begin naming roadways and streets.

The initial catalyst for the commercial development, Metropolit said today, was the alignment 10 or so years ago of the new Granger-Copper Ridge access road running along the southern boundary of his property.

Main arterial roads and the accompanying noise levels and everything else don’t exactly mix with a botanical garden setting, he said.

Metropolit said when the Yukon government recently raised the issue of more access roads around the perimeter, he said it was decided to get on with the development proposal.