Yukon assessors OK subdivision at Carcross sand dunes

A proposed housing development on the Carcross sand dunes has been given the OK by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board.

The project has been controversial as the dunes are considered a unique ecosystem.

Justin Ferbey, CEO of the Carcross Tagish Management Corporation, is overseeing the project.

"There's been a lot of people around Whitehorse who want to look at recreational properties, and a couple are saying 'Hey, we would commute from there if the view outside our front window was amazing,'" he said.

The amazing view may include Bennett Lake, and also some rare plants. Baikal sedge, considered a threatened species, grows on the Carcross dunes.

YESAB has made recommendations to reduce the impact on plant life. Ferbey says no problem.

"We've left a large area where there are these plant life, undeveloped," he said. "And that's to ensure that we establish an ecologically-friendly development." 

The Yukon Government still needs to give its OK. If it does, road construction could begin this year.

The plan is to build homes on 55 separate lots. Ferbey says the homes won't be built and sold immediately - it could take more than a decade to develop the site.