Downtown Whitehorse may one day be home to buildings much taller than now, up to 40 metres or 15 storeys tall.

On Monday, city council voted in favour of a motion by Coun. Ted Laking to increase the maximum building height to help address the housing crisis, both now and in the future.

Laking originally proposed a limit of 35 metres, but a last-minute amendment by Coun. Mellisa Murray upped the maximum to 40 metres.

“We will have another 9,500 people living here by 2033,” Laking said.

“So the question is, where will everybody live?”

Changes won’t happen overnight, as the 2040 Official Community Plan (OCP) will need to be amended. The earliest a decision could be made by council is September.

Support was mixed for Laking’s motion, with Mayor Laura Cabott and Coun. Dan Boyd opposed to the increase.

But in upping the limit to 40 metres, Murray said, “I think 35 is great, but 40 kind of paves the way to 2040.

“Climate is changing quickly, our population is changing; we need to look forward to the years to come.”

Building heights were discussed – and increased to 25 metres – when the OCP was updated in March 2023 following a four-year process.

Buildings 30 metres tall can be allowed in special circumstances. Usually, the city updates the OCP every eight to 10 years.

“We did a lot of consultation during that process, and we did raise maximum building heights,” said Boyd.

“So I’m a little surprised to see that 10 months later, we’re revisiting the question. We don’t open the OCP every six months when we get new statistics.”

The city fire department will be purchasing a new ladder truck, capable of serving buildings up to 30 metres tall, so it can respond to fires in taller buildings.

“It won’t go 35 metres,” Boyd noted.

City needs to adapt

“It’s important to be able to adapt and change course when new information comes in,” said Laking.

“And we need to ensure that people do have homes and the opportunity for a good livelihood.”

The tallest building in Whitehorse right now is the Cornerstone Building at the end of Main Street.

Prior to its construction last year, Mah’s Point on Jarvis Street was the tallest, at 20 metres or six storeys.

Only one developer to date has asked for approval for a building 25 metres tall, Cabott noted.

“I don’t see the need for this change at this point,” she said, noting that council has yet to hear from the housing committee on the proposal and that a Housing Summit is coming up.

Laking acknowledged that the public input into the OCP process a few years ago was against buildings taller than 22.5 metres (seven storeys), but that seems to have changed given the results of a new city report released last Friday.

Of 349 people surveyed as part of the city’s Zoning Bylaw review public engagement, 60 per cent supported or strongly supported allowing taller buildings in the downtown and/or near public transit hubs.

It wasn’t clear how high would be too high for respondents.

“As well, the population continues to grow at an accelerated pace,” Laking said. “We have already blown our own population projections for where the city and territory would be at now.”

Urban sprawl costly

Taller buildings make sense now, he said, because developers start to see savings when they go above 30 metres, to a “sweet spot” where the cost per square foot drops enough to get a good return on investment.

Urban sprawl is costly, he noted. A few years ago, when the city looked at what a new subdivision would cost, the estimate was $545 million, in 2016 dollars, plus or minus 30 per cent, for underground infrastructure development.

“We need to be more efficient and do things more sustainably, and one of those ways is by building up,” Laking said.

The OCP amendment wouldn’t happen overnight, Laking said.

There will be public hearings, bylaw changes and engagement with the building community.

The territory’s contractors association and two developers have said they support the proposed change, Laking added.

Several councillors acknowledged that taller buildings can cause wind tunnels and block sunlight and views.

40 metres is an option

But Coun. Kirk Cameron said he supported an “aggressive” height allowance, noting it doesn’t mean developers have to build taller

buildings but just have the option to.

He said the infrastructure improvements over the past few years downtown could support more residents.

While Cameron said he wouldn’t be thrilled to see a 10-storey building out his downtown window “cutting down on my light during the day, but this is the cost of the kind of growth that we’re seeing moving from what used to be a small city in Canada, to now a medium-size one, en route to one that could get to 80,000 people or more within our lifetimes.”

Laking said he’s interested in getting more housing developed, “because we don’t have a full appreciation of how big the housing problem is.”

Urban sprawl can be expensive for taxpayers, with the cost of roads, public transit, and city services, he noted.

“This (height increase) is about enabling opportunities for the future, without putting roadblocks in the way,” Cameron said.

Boyd, however, urged caution.

“Interest groups will certainly support this, but 35 metres is 12 floors; it would be a huge change for this community. It would be a long time before people saw the impacts of this new rule, when they are impacted by the shadows cast by the big building in front of their house, and they’ll be calling us,” Boyd said.

Timing of concern

Several councillors were concerned about how the timing of the OCP amendment could run up against the election in October or displace work on other priorities.

“But we shouldn’t put ourselves into non-decision mode too early,” argued Coun. Michelle Friesen.

“It’s important that we continue having these conversations and making decisions and moving forward ….”

It’s important to help the people adversely affected by the housing shortage, she said.

Cabott noted that the city has yet to update the bylaw to allow 30-metre-tall buildings.

Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu asked if the city will need to reconsider its plans for a new ladder truck given the potential for buildings taller than 40 metres.

City manager Jeff O’Farrell noted that when buildings are too tall for equipment, firefighters have to change their methods.

If the new height maximum is passed, it would apply to construction in the “mixed use-downtown core” area.

This is roughly bounded by Second Avenue to the north (by the Real Canadian Superstore), Second Avenue to the east, Robert Service Way to the south and Sixth Avenue to the west.