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Projects & Council Initiatives

Single Use Plastics Bylaw #2019-10

The Single Use Plastics Bylaw #2019-10 had third and final reading on February 12, 2020 and comes into force as of April 22, 2020. The purpose of the bylaw is to:

  1. to regulate the business use of single use plastics to reduce the creation of waste and associated municipal costs,
  2. to better steward municipal property, including sewers, streets and parks, and 
  3. to promote responsible and sustainable business practices that are consistent with the values of the community.

Canadian Bank of Commerce NHS : Stabilization

You might have seen some activity around the Canadian Bank of Commerce NHS in spring of 2019. 

In advance of the 2019 work a temporary mesh cover was placed over the east and south facades to deter the nesting of swallows. Thanks to Wildstone Construction and Engineering who assisted the City of Dawson to install the mesh cover.  A special thanks to Mike Loiseau, Wildstone Site Superintendent at the Water Treatment Plant and Josh Wittmeier, Wildstone Lift Operator, for their expertise and generosity.

Technical Arts and Services of Tagish, YT was awarded the contract to provide a complete set of extant record drawings to document existing dimensions, materials, and conditions to guide future restoration work. 

Williams Construction of Dawson City, YT was awarded the contract to remove the stair on the west elevation (riverside) and complete the framing to restore the building openings to the pattern during the period of commemoration.  This is the first step in returning the exterior of the building to its original design.

Ultimate Construction Inc. of Barrie, ON was awarded the contract to restore the exterior pressed tin on all four sides of the building.  This is specialized and exciting work.  See their link for more on this contractor www.ultimateconstruction.ca/services/heritage-restoration/.  This work was the last work scheduled for this year.

Planning for 2020 currently in progress and may include exterior pressed tin restoration and painting.

Council unanimously passed the following resolution at their meeting on October 7, 2019. 


WHEREAS human-generated climate change is an indisputable, scientifically proven reality, and

WHEREAS climate change affects everyone, with northerners particularly susceptible to its impacts, and

WHEREAS greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuel combustion is a leading cause of climate change, and

WHEREAS it’s up to everyone to respond to the challenge of climate change and all citizens of the City of Dawson are encouraged to find ways to do, and continuing doing, their part in reducing their environmental footprint and greenhouse gas emissions.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Dawson Council directs the following:

As part of the upcoming budget-planning process, the CAO determines the municipality’s annual fuel consumption, in litres, and advise how the City of Dawson will reduce that number by at least 3% in 2020 and track the financial savings.

As part of the upcoming budget-planning process, the CAO determines the municipality’s annual electricity consumption and advise how the City of Dawson will reduce that number by at least 3% in 2020 and track the financial savings.

As part of the upcoming budget-planning process, the CAO prioritizes at least one of Council’s climate-change ideas generated as part of the climate-strategy planning process and ensure it is in the 2020 budget presented to Council.

That any municipal carbon-tax rebates received from, at a minimum, 2020 to 2025 be directed to a reserve fund with the express purpose of paying for municipal initiatives aimed at limiting environmental impacts and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and that the CAO advise before September 30, 2020, on how that money will be accessed by departments.

That managers continue the practice of calculating carbon emissions in lifecycle costing of vehicle purchases.

That from now on, authors of briefing notes to Council consider, to the best of their ability, climate and environmental impacts and include that information in the “implications” or “analysis” section of those briefing notes.

That before March 31, 2020, the CAO advises on reasonable changes to the Procurement Policy that would give preference to contractors and service providers who limit greenhouse gas emissions and have a demonstrated commitment to green business practices.

That before March 31, 2020, the CAO and managers complete the FCM climate-adaption maturity scale tool and the greenhouse gas emissions reduction maturity scale and report the results back to Council.

That the City of Dawson continue to be a willing and engaged partner in implementing the Yukon’s Climate Change Strategy.

That water coolers be removed from all City of Dawson buildings and compost-collection containers be introduced.

That the Mayor write a letter to the Yukon Government Community Services Minister (and forward it to Council) on the first of every month until petroleum hydrocarbon containers are included in the Designated Material Regulations and petroleum products are considered as an item for Extended Producer Responsibility.

DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM UPDATE

The Development Incentive Program was approved by Council on August 12, 2019. The program underwent an extensive review and a new Development Incentives Policy was adopted.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE?

There is currently a need for rental housing- including supportive, affordable rental, and market housing, in the City of Dawson. The purpose is to provide financial incentives for projects that provide rental units, supportive housing, and multi-unit residential buildings; and convert vacant properties into more beneficial uses.

WHAT IS OFFERED BY THE PROGRAM?

  • 5 year tax grants for development of vacant land within the Historic Townsite 
  • 10 year tax grants for market rental housing 
  • 10 year tax grants for supportive housing or affordable rental housing, PLUS a waiver of development fees and load capacity charges
  • 3 years of a preferred tax grant for secondary suites, PLUS a waiver of development fees, load capacity charges, and parking requirements.
If you would like more information, please contact

Community Development & Planning Services

Email: planningassist@cityofdawson.ca
Phone: 867-993-7400 Ext. 438

Work with Conservation Klondike Society on the planning and design of a new diversion center and diversion programs.

  • Awaiting final scope from YG for tendering design. Assistance from Raven Recycling was sought to assist with scope. 
  • Next steps include tendering for the design, determining funding source, and determining who, City or the Infrastructure Development Branch, will lead project.

Collect oil containers locally, and a hazardous waste shed in 2019 budget.

  • On hold until staffing reassessment that will coincide with regional agreements.

Heritage Bylaw Updates

In February and March of 2019, YG Historic Sites provided funding to the City of Dawson to review all of the heritage-related bylaws. From this review, the heritage bylaws were improved to increase clarity, ease of interpretation, and consistency. The overall result of this has been a new consolidated bylaw to efficiently manage the City of Dawson's Heritage Program. Mayor and Council gave third and final reading to the Heritage Bylaw on November 20, 2019.

Next Steps

  • Amendments to the Heritage Management Plan
  • Development of a Municipal Heritage Inventory to compliment the Yukon Historic Sites Inventory
  • Creation of a Development & Heritage Guide

Dome Road Residential Development

  • In 2019, Dawson City Council directed administration to begin planning work for this future residential area. 
  • The Dome Road future subdivision master planning process commenced as of Fall 2020.\
  • On June 8, 2022, the draft Dome Road Master Plan and Pre-Design Report was presented to Council. Next, the draft Dome Road Master Plan and Pre-Design Report will be forwarded to Council for adoption.
  • Future stages: regulatory approvals, detailed design, municipal approvals (eg. Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw amendments & subdivision approval), construction.
  • For more detailed information, click here for the project web page.

Dredge Pond Phase II Residential Development

  • In Spring 2021, Dawson City Council directed administration to begin planning work for this Country Residential development area.
  • The Master Plan will provide a detailed direction for this future neighbourhood, including residential lots, parks and protected areas, and trail connections. 
  • Completed work to date includes:
    • Geotechnical assessment
    • Environmental site assessment
    • Hydrology and flood assessments
    • Heritage resource impact assessment
    • First round of community engagement, which yielded a What We Heard Report
    • The development of Conceptual Design Options
  • High-level next steps for this project includes:
    • Further community engagement and consultation
    • The creation of the planning and pre-design report which includes:
      • Final development boundaries
      • Final neighborhood vision and principles
      • Neighborhood concept
      • Recommended zoning and subdivision layout
      • Proposed historic park boundary, site elements and next steps
      • Preliminary engineering (all phases)
      • Class C cost estimates
      • Consultation and engagement summary
    • OCP and Zoning Bylaw amendments
    • YESAA process
    • Detailed design
    • Construction and subdivision approval
    • Lot release
  • For more detailed information, click here for the project web page.

North End Residential Development

  • In 2018, Council approved the work to go forward with North End planning via adoption of the North End Plan and approval of the North End Concept Plan. The North End plan was broken into 2 phases.
  • The project was led and managed by Yukon Government (Land Development Branch) in collaboration with the City of Dawson.
  • Planning, engineering, and feasibility studies in Phase I commenced in 2019 – 2020. Geotechnical and environmental feasibility studies yielded results that have caused project delays. 
  • Currently, the City is working to determine the feasibility of transferring the project management from the Yukon Government.
  • Next steps include:
    • Encroachment resolution
    • Managing development constraints
    • Local improvement charge bylaw
    • Road closure bylaw
    • Subdivision approval
    • Land sale bylaw and agreements
    • Completion of civil design
    • Tendering of civil works
    • Environmental permitting
    • Identifying location for stockpiling waste material
    • Contaminated Soil Management Plan
    • Water licensing
    • Finalizing Utilities (Power/Tel/Data)
    • Legal survey
    • Lottery preparation

Industrial / Mixed Use / Country Residential Infill Development

  • 3 Yukon Government-owned sites were identified in 2019 for infill development.
  • These sites have undergone geotechnical, environmental, and heritage assessment. Results from this work yielded the developable areas and, subsequently, the site boundaries were refined.
  • Infill Site #1 and #2
    • Planning work and concept development for Infill Site #1 and #2 was completed in 2021. Click here for the Infill Site #1 and #2 report.
    • Council provided direction that the land use of the 4 lots within Infill Site #1 are to be 3 Country Residential lots and 1 Commercial Mixed Use lot at approximately 1.0 acre lot sizes.
    • Council provided direction that the land use of Infill Site #2 is to be serviced Commercial Mixed Use and Country Residential lots. This Site could yield ~22 lots at approximately 0.3 - 1.0 acres in size.
    • Amendments to the Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw are required in order to proceed with lot development as per Council direction. First Reading of the Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw amendment bylaws for Infill Site #1 and #2 occurred on April 13, 2022, and a Public Hearing was held on May 18, 2022. Second Reading is anticipated in July 2022.
  • Infill Site #3
    • As per Council direction, the Yukon Government (Land Development Branch) is pursuing the release of Infill Site #3 as a raw land parcel to the private sector for development. Click here to view the parcel.

Vacant Land Development

  • The Yukon Government Land Development Branch, in conjunction with the City Planning and Development Department, underwent a review of YG and City-owned vacant lots in and around the Historic Townsite with the goal of identifying existing vacant surveyed lots for potential release and development.
  • 13 potential lot areas were identified and GIS mapping was used to compile the information spatially.
  • Council reviewed the 13 potential lot areas, and ultimately, very few lots were identified as unused or feasible for release and/o development:
    • One existing, surveyed commercial lot was identified for release, and
    • Council directed Administration to pursue the disposition of the 7th avenue development area for private development on Feb 16, 2022.

Pre-design and conceptual plan for new recreation facility that includes site selection and public engagement. We have a page dedicated to this project, click here to visit it: https://cityofdawson.ca/p/newreccentre

Recreation Board, Community Grants, Temporary Road Closure & Facility Use Policy and Programs

  • Currently under a combined review as these policies and programs all interact with each other. 
  • The review is currently at the department head level. Internal first draft to be circulated to department heads by the end of the year.

Records Management Policy & Program Development

  • Internal discussions are ongoing regarding the implementation on a retention schedule and how to dispose of records beyond the retention requirements.

Procurement policy Review

  • A new Procurement Policy was passed by Council on September 21, 2021. Click here to view Procurement Policy #2021-03. 

Management Bylaw Review

  • No progress to report at this time.

Business License Bylaw Review

  • No progress to report at this time.

The City of Dawson has approved the Parks and Recreation Master Plan (PRMP) that will set the strategic direction for its delivery of parks and recreation over the next decade. 

Solid Waste Management Public Forum

On April 3, 2024 a public forum was held to discuss the City of Dawson's Solid Waste Management plans. From this forum, a "What We Heard" document was created, which can be found below in an executive summary form or full version form.

Solid Waste Management Public Forum "What We Heard" Document-Full Summary

Solid Waste Management Public Forum "What We Heard" Document-Executive Summary

For the residents of the City of Dawson who are not currently connected to the utility infrastructure for water, it is important to have a reasonable system to have water delivered to their residence/business.

  • Work on the water delivery bylaw and services will commence following the work for the Water Metering Design Program.

www.dawsoncitywater.ca

WATER AND SEWER UPGRADE PROJECTS

Comprehensive assessments of our water and sewer infrastructure have identified necessary upgrades to both condition and capacity, including our new pumphouse and water treatment equipment on 5th Avenue and soon,  the associated reservoirs. 

City of Dawson and Government of Yukon have been working together to implement these over the last several years. Funding has been provided by Government of Canada, Government of Yukon and the City of Dawson.

Through this page we provide you with the latest updates and information on when any necessary disruption to services, access or roads will occur. Impacted property owners will also be contacted directly.

For further information please email projectinfo@cityofdawson.ca,  or follow our Facebook page.

Please note that when we provide scheduling projections these are based upon the best available information at the time of publication. In this way we endeavor to assist residents and businesses in planning but schedules may change, subject to ground conditions, delivery of materials and other unforeseen circumstances.


Naturally Occurring Asbestos

Asbestos Exposure Control Plan

For Current Road Closures & Information

Other Ongoing Maintenance

There may be ongoing construction work around town to complete projects and to maintain infrastructure around town. If this maintenance affects traffic flow or businesses, we will give as much notice as possible.