Iqaluit unveils lot development plan for Apex

Many Apex residents turned out for a Nov. 15 meeting at the Ape Okpik Community Hall to discuss a plan which would see up to 72 new housing lots in their community. (PHOTO BY DEAN MORRISON)

Apex, located a few kilometres from Iqaluit, has room to spare, which is why the City of Iqaluit is looking at developing new housing lots there. (FILE PHOTO)

With little room for any new housing lots in Iqaluit, the city of Iqaluit is now looking to develop new lots in the satellite community of Apex.

That’s a plan which residents, who came to a Nov. 15 meeting at the Abe Okpik Community Hall in Apex, said they support, but with some reservations.

Arif Sayani, Iqaluit’s director of planning and lands, called the meeting to discuss a proposal that could see 72 new lot sites developed in Apex.

Up to now, the city has discouraged new growth in areas without utilidor service because of the cost and environmental footprint of trucked service.

But Iqaluit will run out of available single-family housing lots by 2013 at the current rate of construction, Sayani told the 30-plus people at the meeting.

That’s why there’s an urgent need to find new lots to build on, Sayani said.

“We have identified some opportunities in Apex, but it is still at least three years before the newest sub-divisions could be ready,” he said.

Sayani displayed maps showing which places around Apex hold potential for new housing lots.

His department has identified up to 72 sites that could be created in the community, where there now has 102 homes.

Most of those new housing lots would be created along the road to Rotary Park.

If all proposed lots are approved, the population of Apex, now about 200, could grow by more than 50 per cent, he said.

Longtime Apex resident Lynda Gunn said she was generally in favour of new lot development in Apex.

But Gunn said she wants to make sure there’s adequate “green space,” and parks for residents and their children.

“With any new development we have to consider play space for kids,” she said.

Anne Crawford, who has also lived in Apex for many years, said she sees new development as vital for the future of Apex.

“New residents are important, particularly if we are to stem the decline in students at our elementary school,” Crawford said.

A council of local residents “that could work with the city before any major changes are made” should be part of any plan to develop housing lots in Apex, she suggested.

Sayani told the gathering he will take their concerns to a council committee meeting on Nov. 28.

Consultation will play into any decisions made about future housing lot development in Apex, he promised.