Whistle Bend master plan stirs traffic worries

A vote by city council next week would pave the way for the zoning of the proposed Whistle Bend neighbourhood on Porter Creek's lower bench.

A vote by city council next week would pave the way for the zoning of the proposed Whistle Bend neighbourhood on Porter Creek’s lower bench.

At last Monday night’s city council meeting, city planner Kinden Kosick presented the recommendation that council adopt the master plan for the area, which would then push it into the zoning phase through March and April.

The final plan is designed for a population of around 7,800 spread over more than 253 hectares with a range of housing, Kosick said.

“This design breaks up long road ways, replacing them with pedestrian corridors, slowing traffic on local roads and promoting walking and cycling,” he said, reading from the report to council.

“The overall design is centred on a town square that is envisioned as both an urban space and recreation area.”

An arterial road through Whistle Bend would link the neighbourhood and be part of a transit route, providing access as well to the schools, commercial, mixed-use and community-use areas.

Next to the arterial would be higher-density housing in an effort to promote bus use and provide a buffer to lower-density homes.

“‘Green fingers’ run through the development creating trail linkages to different areas of the neighbourhood,” reads the report.

Connecting the main trail loop to the town square, the “green fingers” would also allow for space for storm water management.

The master plan also shows potential development along the Mountain View Golf Course in the area.

“At this time, the exact location, access and design for this area are unknown,” reads the report. “As such, this area has been shown as a ‘potential future housing development’ that will be subject to discussions between the city, the Yukon government and the golf course.”

As for what type of homes and properties residents could expect in the subdivision, the master plan has lower-density lots of 300 square metres to 700 square metres, with the width of the properties being between 10 and 20 m.

On those properties would be single-family homes and multi-family sites from duplexes to townhouses with a density of between 30 and 50 living units per hectare.

By comparison, the higher-density areas would have a density of up to 100 units per hectare for apartment buildings of up to four storeys, along with other multi-family housing types like townhouses and fourplexes. There would also be some smaller single-family lots on the site.

“The wide range of housing types proposed in housing mixes A and B (the lower and higher density areas) provide a range of price points and dwelling types that are both affordable and marketable for homeowners and developers,” it was noted in the report.

“This proposed mix of lots will provide for a modest number of larger single-family lots while attaining the sustainability and density goals set out for Whistle Bend.

Additionally, the overlap in housing types between mix A and B provide for transition zones between higher and lower density areas.”

Depending on what comes out of the more detailed subdivision, the number of units and potential population could change. As it stands, the lower-density sites will take up 67.51 ha while the higher-density lots will take up 40.41 ha.

Meanwhile, the mixed-use sites of both commercial and residential will take up 4.84 ha, accommodating a possible population of 440 around the town square.

Full commercial space, taking up 5.57 ha, would be closer to the entrance of the neighbourhood off Range Road.

There, Kosick said, residents would likely see shops like a grocery store and others that would serve the neighbourhood along with Porter Creek.

The plans are already raising concerns for residents of Porter Creek.

At Monday night’s meeting, after listening, with some of her neighbours to the report, Tamarack Drive resident Jenn Meurer told council that despite the anticipated traffic issue that will come with the new development, no planning seems to have been done.

The report notes the main entrance to Whistle Bend will be the connection to Mountainview Drive, which would be built in the initial phase of the development.

“I really feel that traffic should be accommodated more equitably between Mountainview (Drive) and Range Road,” Meurer said.

“Neither are actually built to the level of traffic that we’re anticipating so an argument could be made that you upgrade both to accommodate them equitably and that Range Road is a more direct road to the development.”

The addition of the connector road on the final design came as a surprise to Meurer and others living in the area, she said.

The city’s report notes the road didn’t show up on any of the concept maps that were more focused on what the neighbourhood would look like rather than how it would be accessed, though the connection was included in a booklet distributed prior to the Community Café consultation event.

Rather than experiencing the traffic issues that have plagued Copper Ridge, “Let’s try to do it right this time,” Meurer suggested as she also wondered how residents will safely access what’s currently used as green space with the connector road going through the area.

Councillors were also informed that the territory would deal with the sale of lots, as the site is currently owned by the Yukon government.

While members will vote on the master plan next week, it’s expected there will be further public meetings to look at the more detailed zoning of the site before that’s adopted for the first and second phase.

Subdivision of those two phases would follow in April, with engineering work done into 2010. Between the subdivision and engineering work would be the review of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board, Kosick said, noting it’s unknown exactly how long that might
take.

Construction is proposed to take place between March 2010 and September 2011, with the first set of lots being put on the market in the spring of 2012.

The second set of lots would then be made available a year later.

Councillors Dave Austin and Doug Graham were absent from Monday’s meeting, with Coun. Jan Stick attending by conference call.