Iqaluit forges ahead with Plateau expansion

A new home is seen under construction in Phase 3 of Iqaluit’s Plateau neighbourhood June 15. The area figures to be a busy construction zone this summer, with every lot sold and several development permits already issued. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

Work on houses in Phase 3 of Iqaluit’s Plateau subdivision is already underway, but things promise to get even busier after Iqaluit city council approved major developments for the neighbourhood.

“Construction season is here and it looks to be a busy one,” said city planner Arif Sayani at a council meeting June 14.

Councillors approved development permits and variances for three major new projects including two 12-unit row houses to be built by Tumiit Development Corporation, two six-unit row houses by GC North and two six-unit row houses by Nunavut Excavating.

Those projects go along with two single-family homes that are already under construction in Phase 3. All of Phase 3’s 30 single-family lots and 21 medium density lots are sold out.

In an interview, Sayani said more development permits for single-family homes and medium-density developments will be approved in the coming weeks.

Projects of six units or more require council approval.

Residential lots for each of the three Plateau phases were issued by ballot draw and were quickly snapped up each time. Phases 1 and 2 are basically complete.

Sayani said an institutional lot in Phase 1 and a commercial lot in Phase 2 remain vacant.

The city attempted to rezone the Phase 1 lot last year to allow for a mixed-use apartment building with commercial space, but was shouted down by local homeowners who complained the development would lower their property values.

The Phase 2 commercial lot is too far away from the city core to attract much interest, Sayani said.

“Nobody wanted to be out that far,” he said.

That’s a problem the city aims to fix with Phase 4, a smaller parcel of land to be located in behind the Nunavut Justice Centre.

It will have three commercial lots and eight medium density residential lots and will be considered part of Iqaluit’s downtown core area.

“We feel there should be enough market demand for those (lots),” he said.

Sayani also said the city remains committed to the principle of mixed-use zoning, with residential and commercial properties side-by-side.

The principle is increasingly popular in urban planning because it allows residents opportunities to live where they work, which can reduce vehicle traffic and carbon emissions.

It’s also a way to avoid empty residential neighbourhoods during the day and empty commercial districts at night.

“If you’ve got mixed use you’ve got a healthier site…you always have eyes on the street,” Sayani said. “It promotes more activity on the site during the day which contributes to [a] healthier community.”

It will be two to three years before work begins on Phase 4, but Sayani said design work will begin soon.

With the completion of Phase 4 in sight, the city now turns to start planning its next major residential expansion into two new areas, past the current end of the paved section of the Road To Nowhere, and to two plots of land flanking Apex Road, halfway between Bryan Pearson’s house and Apex.

Sayani said a request for proposals for a feasibility study for those developments should be issued in the next couple of months.