Lot shortage is hurting city, council told

The city needs to speed up the process for single-family lots to be available for the sake of the community and its economy, city council was told by close to a dozen people Tuesday evening.

The city needs to speed up the process for single-family lots to be available for the sake of the community and its economy, city council was told by close to a dozen people Tuesday evening.

Representatives of the business community, labour movement and local realtors argued the shortage of single-family lots in Whitehorse is not only impacting the real estate market, but also the local economy and industries like mining.

The city and territory need to have the planned two-year supply of single-family lots available in order to keep residents, skilled tradespeople and bring new people to town, council heard.

“Frankly, we just can’t afford any delays,“ said Joel Hackney of Horizon Construction.

Since 1991, Hackney has been building new homes with his business, typically working on eight to 10 lots in a year.

A shortfall of 100 single-family homes this year due to a lack of properties available and “dismal” projections for next year has been a major factor in the rising real estate prices and has an overall impact on everyone in the city, he argued.

“Most everyone in Whitehorse depends on a thriving economy for their livelihood,“ Hackney said.

Without property to build homes on, jobs could eventually be lost, and there would be a loss of potential dollars coming from mining industries as mines fly workers in and out and perhaps provide housing in camp because there are no places available in Whitehorse, he added.

Northerm Windows is already starting to feel the impact from the lack of single-family lots.

The number of contractors and home owners coming in with plans for new single-family homes has dropped off over the past two years, Dave Borud said.

“This year, it’s looking bleak,“ he said. While his business gets some work on multi-residential properties, he added, it’s not the same as the single-family jobs the window and door manufacturing business is used to.

Among Northerm’s 27 employees are some foreign workers who have moved here to help the company through the economic growth that was occurring. Now those workers want to buy single-family homes, but aren’t likely to afford the housing.

Borud noted Northerm supports other local businesses as well in buying from local suppliers wherever possible.

“If we see a down-swing coming, we adjust to it, and so be it. A lot of the suppliers we have locally here will feel it as well,“ he said.

Northerm has invested a lot of money in upgrading its facility, the former Kelly Douglas Ltd. food wholesale warehouse, where it manufactures doors and windows because of the forecast growth, strong economy and due to the number of people moving here.

“All this is now in jeopardy when the number of single-family lots for new home construction dwindle down to record lows,“ he said.

The number one threat to the business identified at a strategic planning exercise was found not to be competition from the South nor increased energy costs, but rather the lack of single-family lots available in the city, he noted.

Construction of new single-family homes constitute about 50 per cent of Cinderwood Kitchens Ltd.‘s business, company’s co-owner Jay Glass told council.

Also speaking on behalf of the Yukon Home Builders Association, Glass noted that while his business has supported the community in every way it can, it’s also benefited from the city through various contracts.

While he understands council is in a “tough position” and commented he wasn’t at the council meeting to complain, Glass said it’s important for the city to know what the shortage means for his company.

His 20 employees are all taxpayers and support the local economy, he said.

In addition to offering employment stability to Cinderwood workers, Glass said, the company is obviously important to him as it is his livelihood.

“Like Northerm, we manufacture locally and we offer products it would be difficult to obtain long distance so it would be a shame to see somebody’s company, many companies that might not be able to survive. I’m not saying that would happen, but it could,“ Glass said.

Local builders make up the backbone of his business and over the years, Glass has seen the quality improve.

If current builders leave due to the lack of single-family lots, there would likely be new builders but the quality may suffer, he said.

Similarly, the city could lose more skilled tradespeople at a time when it’s already short of skilled workers.

The situation would be different if there were economic factors in play, but the problem is simply one of inventory.

Glass called on the city to do all it can to rectify the situation, noting he hopes the process becomes more simplified and streamlined in the future.

Like Northerm and Cinderwood, the 60 staff at Home Hardware depend on a healthy amount of construction and renovations as well, council was told.

In addition to the long-term impact on business, the lot shortage is also excluding much of the store’s staff from purchasing new single-family homes because of the high cost, said Rod Snooks, general manager of the local store.

“It should be market place-driven,“ he said of housing costs.

The city should work on opening up more lots to help keep jobs in the territory and encouraging more people to move here, Snooks said.

It would mean a better school system with more tax money coming in to support facilities like the Canada Games Centre, he said.

Also asking the city to speed up the opening of single-family lots was Amanda Leslie of Partnering for Success (an initiative of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce).

She presented four letters to council in support.

The situation means there are more and more Yukoners not in the housing market, said Alex Furlong, president of the Yukon Federation of Labour.

“The picture doesn’t look promising,“ he said.

More buildings would mean more money in the city’s economy, he said, asking that he’ll do whatever is necessary to support single-family lot development.

Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce representative Doug Hayward also brought the business case forward, pointing to a variety of numbers around how many lots are needed.

Coun. Doug Graham took issue with the numbers presented, arguing they weren’t the numbers given to the chamber in a letter earlier this month.

“This is B.S.,“ Graham, a supporter of more single-family lots in the city, said after Hayward noted the numbers are a matter of interpretation.

A letter singled by city manager Dennis Shewfelt and dated May 9, lists the developments underway and the number of lots that will become available.

Among them are:

- The former Stan McCowan Arena site in Porter Creek, which will include 13 single-family and duplex lots along with multi-residential sites. The lots are scheduled to be ready this fall;

- Takhini North, with three single-family lots and 40 duplex properties.
Four privately-owned lots will also be ready for development in phase one in 2009. Phase two will see 54 duplex and single-family lots in 2010;

- The Arkell expansion will provide 56 single-family and duplex lots along with 78 townhouse lots;

- The Whitehorse Copper Country Residential subdivision will see 69 country residential lots released this year;

- Copper Ridge will have five lots released this year;

- The Porter Creek lower bench will have construction begin in 2009, with the first lots for sale in 2010. It’s estimated it will see 200 lots on the market though the exact type of housing is unknown;

- Private sector development is also underway with Raven’s Ridge having nine lots available, Fox Haven with two and the Ta’an Kawach’an Council receiving development approval for 27 country residential single family lots off the Mayo Road; and

- Future developments planned include Porter Creek D in the McIntyre Creek area, the letter states.

Meanwhile, Coun. Dave Austin questioned whether Hayward believes more than 10 per cent of the population would vote if the city revisited the green space bylaw.

The bylaw slows down the process, a number of realtors argued during their presentations to council.

While Hayward said he couldn’t speak for the rest of the community, he said he would be willing to get the word out if it was revisited.

Realtors have been calling for an end to the bylaw since last year, arguing it makes the process for opening up land take too long.

“The city has an obligation to its citizens,“ Yukon Real Estate Association president Terry Bergen argued.

He pointed to the agreement between the territory and city to have a two-year inventory of lots available.

“We believe you don’t understand the seriousness of the lot shortage,“ he said.

Veteran realtor Dan Lang also called for the bylaw to be rescinded. He called for the processes to be streamlined and for the city to bring back its planning board to deal with planning issues.

Meanwhile, Gerald Budzinski, the association’s vice-president, argued that with the private sector filling the need for condominiums and other multi-residential housing, there remains a need for single-family lots to be available.

Following last night’s meeting, Mayor Bev Buckway argued that if the 10 delegates had stayed to take in the discussion issues on planning, they would have seen five of the 13 issues up for discussion were around developments involving single-family lots.

“You see a lot of work going on,“ the mayor said, adding that many of the processes involved are already legislated and can’t be changed easily.

The city often gets mixed messages around development, she noted. On one hand, council is told to speed things up in making lots available. On the other hand, many citizens call for a process involving consultation and such.

While a number of speakers argued it’s difficult for first-time house buyers to purchase a single-family home, Buckway said she doesn’t know a lot of people whose first home was a stand-alone house.

Many young people start off in something smaller, building equity and saving to buy a single-family home someday, she said.