Great views, no traffic and no taxes create hidden paradise for fortunate few

KUUJJUAQ – The only traffic jams Dave Forrest sees during his daily commute involve caribou, not trucks or cars.

He lives away from the bustle of Kuujjuaq, in a secret suburb several kilometres outside town. To get there, he drives along the Range Road, past the airport and a bumpy gravel pit, to his home, which sits amid huge boulders, spiky firs and larch trees.

For the half a dozen homeowners who live year-round in modest cabins here, there are endless views of the river and mountains, the privacy of a forested nook, and few cars, trucks, all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles to disturb the peace. At night, stars light up the sky and wolves are the only passers-by.

The full-time residents are mainly Qallunaat or mixed couples who work in jobs with no staff housing. Many others visit their Range Road cabins only on weekends or during vacations.

Change now lies ahead for Kuujjuaq's secret suburb because the Range Road may someday soon be zoned for residential use.

At its Nov. 21 meeting, Kuujjuaq's town council mulled over the increasing number of households living full-time along the Range Road and their requests for water delivery, sewage pick-up and snow plowing.

"We should just make it a tax-paying zone so we can supply the proper services," suggested councillor Sammy Duncan.

If Kuujjuaq does eventually decide to move towards zoning the Range Road, its property owners will start to pay municipal taxes. However, their taxes will likely be low, and they will also be eligible to receive a 75 per cent rebate on municipal taxes offered to homeowners who have not received any government funds to build their homes.

One cabin-owner said he would consider selling his cabin if he had to pay taxes.

Meanwhile, the Range Road is a haven for do-it-yourself types, like the residents who have furnished their grounds with recycled items – a large white cover over abandoned NavCanada radar equipment has a new purpose as a shed, while a large empty electrical line spool serves as a picnic table in summer.

Another Range Road weekender has renovated his cabin entirely with recycled materials.

A cabin built out of local logs has an old Kuujjuaq post office sign tacked up near its front door. Inside, a stripped and polished tree trunk stands in the middle of the room where it holds up a staircase leading to a sleeping loft.

Sylvain Gadbois and his wife have lived on the Range Road for two years – and they say they wouldn't live anywhere else.

"You could give me an apartment in town, and I wouldn't take it," Gadbois said.

But he is interested in receiving minimal town services, such as a weekly sewage pick-up, which the Northern Village of Kuujjuaq is willing to supply for $150 a month.

Forrest, a long-time Kuujjuaq resident who moved to a one-bedroom home on the Range Road six years ago, said he is ready to pay taxes, but doesn't think the delivery of municipal services would affect his lifestyle much.

Forrest's home has electricity, satellite television, running water from a well and a septic system that doesn't have to be emptied often.

In the winter, on stormy days when municipal snowplows are busy elsewhere, he doesn't mind using a snowmobile to travel from his home to Kuujjuaq.

"The Range Road makes me think of Apex, the original town of Apex, where the free-thinkers went to get away from the hustle and bustle of the community," he said.

Forrest's main concern is that if residential zoning encourages more people to live out on the Range Road, he might have to move even further away from town to find another place where caribou on the road create the only traffic jams.