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Katz works to revive stalled Corydon plan

Mayor suggests hiring outside consultant

By: Jen Skerritt

Posted: 07/11/2012 3:17 AM | Comments: 0 | Last Modified: 07/11/2012 10:48 AM | Updates

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John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press archives The area BIZ decried the Corydon plan. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

BIZ Letter

Read the letter the Corydon Avenue BIZ sent to Coun. Jenny Gerbasi about the development plan. (PDF, 5 MB)

WINNIPEG Mayor Sam Katz will try to revive Corydon-area development plans that were sidelined last week.

Katz will introduce a motion this morning at council's executive policy committee meeting that calls for the city to hire an independent consultant to continue work on the Corydon-area plan and ensure all stakeholders have a voice in the process.

The move comes one week after council's property committee approved a surprise motion to terminate work on secondary plans for the Corydon neighbourhood.

On Monday, Katz met with property and development chairman Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan), Coun. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge), community representative Carla Richmond, business owners Jerry Cianflone and Jeff Rabb, and senior city administration to discuss the neighbourhood planning process.

Katz said there were problems with the process, and all participants unanimously supported taking steps to develop a workable neighbourhood plan. He said the advisory committee appointed by the public service did not accurately reflect the community, noting it did not include apartment or duplex dwellers.

Katz said everyone agreed it was a good idea to hire an outside consultant to help lead the process.

"It's not a matter of compromise, it's a matter of doing things the proper way," he said. "There were definite problems with the existing process; some changes had to be made and we're going do what has to be done to get this plan done."

Gerbasi said Monday's meeting was very positive, and the city will look to bring in someone who can work with the public service to get the planning process back on track. She said the city will also review the advisory committee, as people were concerned it did not fairly represent the community or business interests.

"People's emotions run high. It's about your home, it's about your business," she said of the neighbourhood development plans. "What I'm trying to do is work with everyone involved to get this back on track and get our process going again."

Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) introduced a motion last week calling on the city to terminate the planning process after the Corydon Avenue BIZ and several business owners sent a letter to Gerbasi and other city officials, calling the process a "stop-growth plan."

They asked the city to "terminate" the process and hire a third-party consultant to start work on new neighbourhood plans.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 11, 2012 B2

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Updated on Wednesday, July 11, 2012 at 10:48 AM CDT: Adds link to letter.

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