Residents have filed a lawsuit against the Yukon government calling for the reversal of a decision to allow Mount Lorne property owners to subdivide their lots.
It’s illegal and it’s a breach of contract, says Gary Irvin, who goes by Rufus and owns a property in the Robinson subdivision.
He is a signatory to the petition filed in Yukon Supreme Court this week.
When he bought the property in 1988, there was a clear indication that dividing lots would never be allowed, he said.
“It’s stated right in the agreement for sale and in the regulations that Robinson could never be subdivided.”
That was a big selling feature of the property, said Irvin.
“I brought the property on that basis. I lived in Marsh Lake, and the lots were too small, and it was just crazy.”
All the Robinson lots, on the other hand, are between 15-20 acres each, said Irvin.
“Because it said you couldn’t subdivide, well that’s perfect, that’s exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want to live in a town.”
But a recent order in council now permits current Mount Lorne property owners to each subdivide on a one-time-only basis.
It was a group of Robinson property owners who initially started the push to allow subdivision.
A 2013 survey found that most Mount Lorne residents support one-time only subdivision and minimum lot sizes of three hectares.
In the end, the government agreed that only one subdivision per lot would be allowed, but decreased the minimum lot size to two hectares.
“This amendment provides consistency in the trend towards two hectare lots in the Whitehorse periphery,” Resources Minister Scott Kent said in a news release.
Irvin said that Robinson should never have been lumped in with the rest of Mount Lorne when considering the question of subdivision.
His lawsuit against Energy, Mines and Resources calls for the court to strike down the order in council that allows the subdivision altogether, or exempt Robinson from it.
Contact Jacqueline Ronson at
jronson@yukon-news.com