Hey neighbour: Plans for worker camp catch Yellowknife homeowners by surprise

Right now it's just a grim, somewhat apocalyptic-looking gravel lot dotted with the dried-out husks of car tires.

But by the end of the summer, the large front yard of Yellowknife's Kam Lake Industrial Centre could be home to as many as 250 tradespeople coming to the city to build thenew Stanton Territorial Hospital.

• Yellowknife hospital builders planning 250-person worker camp in Kam Lake

The scenario which will be discussed today at noon by Yellowknife city councillors is taking people who live in the neighbourhoodby surprise.

"This neighbourhood is quiet," said Ashfaq Khan, a homeowner on Hall Crescent and a father of two kids aged six and 13.

"And there's no fence," he added, referring to the lack of a barrier separating the end of the street and the lot directly beside it. (See video below.)

On Friday a memo released by the City of Yellowknife revealed that Clark Builders and Bird Construction the companies tapped by the N.W.T. government to build the $300-million new hospital applied to the city on April 29for a zoning change to allow for atemporary, possibly two-yearcamp on the lot.

The companies hope to finish erecting the siteby September.

Though the city began mailing out notification letters to neighbours on May 17, a half-dozen Hall Crescent residents first learned of the news Friday from CBC News.

One woman whose back deck would directly overlook the construction camp had a notification letter delivered to her by someone driving a City of Yellowknife car just moments before Iknocked on her door.

'There are noise bylaws'

The lot at Kam Lake Industrial Centre is owned by Joe Leonardis, whose business, J.S.L. Mechanical, is located inside the building facing the lot.

If city councillors ultimately sign off on the camp, Leonardis will lease the property to the hospital builders.

He's done it for nickel explorers and othercamp dwellersbefore.

"We never had any problems back then, because camp rules are pretty strict," he said.

"There are noise bylaws and everything. Any of our leases state that they have to abide by all the laws of the area."

Leonardis says he hasn't talked to the people on Hall Crescent.

"I haven't talked to anybody, nor would I want to influence anybody's thoughts."

'They should find another place'

Khan's opinion is clear enough, however.

"They should find another place where there's no neighbourhood," he said.

"Is there land available?" said Leonardis in response to thatidea. "I don't think so. Yellowknife is pretty well locked in."

Bird and Clark's application for the zoning change suggests as much.

The Kam Lake lot "is the only lot that is large enough to comfortably set the camp up on," the companies wrote."The lot is ideally located for access to our site and minimizing impact on local community."

The companies say they can't get enough apartments or hotel rooms for the workers.

What's next

A public hearing on the rezoning request is scheduled for June 13.

After that, Clark Builders and Bird Construction will need a development permit to erect the camp.

Once that permit is finalized, people will have two weeks to appeal it.

Today's early discussion at city hall is open to the public.