Developer denied

A local developer will have to go back to the drawing board to find a water supply for a proposed 22-unit gated subdivision he wants to build next to the Bare Point Water treatment plant in Shuniah.

City Council on Monday did not ask city administration to prepare a report on the viability of extending city water services to the 50-acre property, meaning they will leave it up to administration to make the final decision.

Development Services manager Mark Smith said the proposal does not fit into the city’s official plan for development, which is why his department initially rejected the idea. He added the province is encouraging, and in some cases mandating, cities to only allow development where it’s most needed, and not stretch already thin resources even further.

That would be the case had Zanette been allowed to proceed, Smith said. 

“I expect we will be encouraged to reduce the amount of single-service developments that are permitted,” Smith said.

Zanette, owner of Lakeshore Developments argued his proposal would cost the city nothing, and in fact would make them money if the city sold him the water at a premium, a precedent set when Whitewater Golf Course was built in the mid-2000s.

“The water available is right there,” he said. “We’re right next door. It’s dissimilar to Whitewater, where they were trying to run a pipe a kilometre. We’ll be maintaining the pump. There will be no cost to the city.”

Zanette wasn’t asking council for approval for the project, but instead direct city staff to work with the developer and create a report to determine the merits of his proposal. Smith said he’ll still work with Zanette, but the proposed solution had little chance of winning him over.

The project found little support around the council table, particularly from Neebing Coun. Linda Rydholm.

“We have lots of land in the city. The province wants us to do infilling,” Rydholm said, adding she wouldn’t want to face residents in her mostly rural ward who don’t have, and can’t get, access to city water.