After 40 minutes of discussion, city council accepted an administrative recommendation at its meeting Monday to hold a public input session on the Range Road Joint Master Plan.

The Master Plan was developed by the Yukon government and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation as the owners of the two parcels of land affected by the plan.

Kwanlin Dün representative Greg Thompson and Brian Crist, the acting director of the Yukon government’s land development branch, explained what they described as an indepth process to develop the plan.

It includes public consultation with Kwanlin Dün citizens and residents of Range Road.

They encouraged city council not to hold another public input session, as doing so could delay the process of getting down to implementing the plan by six weeks.

The plan, they said, is to begin the development of the Range Range project in 2024.

They also noted public input sessions would be required in the future during the review by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB ) and during the zoning bylaw amendment required to accommodate the plan.

Council members had a lengthy discussion, after which five of the seven council members voted to accept the administrative recommendation to hold a pubic input session at council’s July 10 meeting.

Councillors Kirk Cameron and Mellisa Murray voted against the recommendation.

Cameron said the work by Kwanlin Dün and YG has been thorough and exhaustive, and there will still be the YESAB process and the zoning bylaw process.

“I think there is a lot here,” he said. “We do not have to burden the development process with another six weeks.

“We do not need this additional conditional consultation piece.”

Murray noted Kwanlin Dün and YG have produced a “What we Heard” document to support their Master Plan, adding she too did not want to slow down the process.

But the majority of council members emphasized it’s their duty as elected representatives to ensure they hear from everybody across the community.

Coun. Dan Boyd noted the Kwanlin Dün and the Yukon government wrapped up their public consultation in November 2021, some 19 months ago.

The consultation by Kwanlin Dün and YG focused on Kwanlin Dün citizens and residents of Range Road, he noted.

Boyd said holding a public input session will provide the opportunity to hear from a larger cross-section of Whitehorse residents.