The dawning of mini-skyscrapers in Whitehorse has run into a dose of stunted growth of uncertain duration.

It became clear Monday evening that buildings towering more than 40 metres (133 feet) won’t be coming to a neighbourhood near you anytime soon.

In February, city council voted in favour of a Jan. 29 motion by Coun. Ted Laking to raise the maximum building height to help take on the housing crisis.

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

The Official Community Plan (OCP) sets out a 30-metre limit, and a change would require an an amendment to that planning blueprint.

“We will have another 9,500 people living here by 2033,” Laking said at the time. “So the question is: where will everybody live?”

By Monday night’s standing committees meeting, the outlook for the allowance of lofty edifices in Whitehorse had dimmed considerably – at least for the rest of this year.

After hearing from two residents who gave short shrift to the taller buildings concept, members of council embarked on a lengthy discussion of how to proceed.

Instead of paving the way to vote on the issue in September – the earliest time possible – they ultimately voted to send the issue back to administration for further study.

That means the matter won’t return to council before next October’s municipal election.

City administration had set out a host of reasons as to why the proposed amendment should not proceed under the bylaw process.

Critics have consistently pointed out that taller buildings don’t necessarily signal instant gains of residential living space, as opposed to office and retail space, for example.

Earlier in Monday’s meeting, Liz Hanson, the former NDP MLA for Whitehorse Centre, spoke to council members as a downtown resident.

The OCP’s revamp took four years and $300,000 to accomplish, and represents “one of the fundamental exercises in city engagement,” said Hanson, whose time in the downtown area goes back to 1978.

Given that council voted to adopt the OCP in March 2023, she said, it was “a surprise” to see a proposed amendment raising building height maximums to 40 metres.

That happened “with no overwhelming argument” to overturn the OCP’s principles, Hanson added.

The proceedings suggest that “public engagement is simply show ... this is a fundamental breach of good governance,” she added.

Hanson said she believes in “open and accountable decision-making.”

She asked the relevant council members “to demonstrate their commitment to openness by declaring what made them support the amendment.”

Nathan Millar of the Downtown Residents Association said many area residents “support thoughtful densification ... but we don’t need 40-metre buildings to achieve that.”

He figures that four “tall” buildings have been constructed in the downtown area over the last four years.

The concept of 30-metre buildings – eight to 10 stories high – is 2 1/2 times higher than what lawmakers deemed was appropriate a decade ago, Millar said.

He suggested the estimated 1,200 mixed-use lots in the downtown area – one-third with no buildings on them – be exploited for densification purposes.

“There is a lot of room to densify downtown,” Millar said.

The latest Yukon government data suggest that the capital will be home to 46,000 people by 2040.

The finalization of the OCP “represents a lot of input from a lot of people,” Millar added.

“Forty-metre buildings have the potential for negative impacts.”

He cited sunlight blockage, unpleasant wind effects and other negative influences on the cityscape.

“We ask the city to stand down on pursuing this change,” Millar said.

“We should stick to the plan. We need to implement the current plan and see how that plays out.”

Later in the meeting, as council members discussed the proposed amendment to the OCP, Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu said “there is more information that needs to be brought forward ... enough has come up for me to question this.”

Laking said “this initiative will essentially be sent to an early death, and it will not be proceeding any time in the near future, and the topic of building heights has been defeated.”

Coun. Dan Boyd, the planning committee chair, said he found that line of thinking “disrespectful” to the committee, adding, “if it is meant to be, it’s going to be.”

Coun. Kirk Cameron said he didn’t regard returning the matter to city officials as “killing it,” adding “there is a substantive amount of dialogue that needs to happen” for the proposed amendment to become municipal law.

“What does a 40-metre building height do for us?” he asked. “A council needs to make that kind of call.”

Noting the widespread citizen opposition to towering buildings, Mayor Laura Cabott said support for the taller structures has come largely from the business community, members of whom are out to “make a buck.”

Most public input into the OCP process a few years ago opposed buildings exceeding 22.5 metres (seven stories).

In February, Boyd noted the ladder of the new fire truck the city planned to purchase will reach 30 metres, but not 35 metres.

City officials had pointed that the OCP lacks clear guidelines to assess the shadow and wind impacts of tall buildings when reviewing development permit applications, adding that parks and public spaces should be protected from excessive shadowing, especially in Downtown South.

Tall building developments may not have the ability to provide sufficient parking, administration added, and due to the impacts of high buildings, the OCP should require community benefits to offset the growing height limit.

In early February, Northern Vision Development (NVD) wrote a long letter of support for increasing the height maximum to 35 metres.

The company cited reduced urban sprawl, efficient land use and encouraging innovation among 13 reasons.

“We believe that an increase in the height allowance for downtown buildings is critical to ensuring that the industry can continue to meet the needs of the growing Whitehorse community and for the city as a whole to grow and thrive for decades to come,” wrote NVD chief executive officer Michael Hale.

The letter cited clauses of the OCP to support each of NVD’s reasons.

The contractors’ association and two developers also supported the rationale for the motion made Jan. 29, according to Laking.