Proposed changes will remove city permit red tape from some home improvements

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This article was published 01/02/2024 (623 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeggers could soon find it quicker and easier to get started on more than two dozen small home improvements, such as installing a hot tub, new patio or garden shed.

Property and development committee councillors voted in favour of bylaw changes Thursday designed to cut red tape by reducing the number of projects that require a development permit, pending final city council approval.

The changes would remove the development permit requirement from 25 specific types of projects and give planning, property and development director Hazel Borys the authority to determine others in the future.

“It will reduce the amount of red tape that Winnipeggers have to go through in order to get simple, non-risky sorts of development approved.… It’s just taking that first step out of the process and (reducing) the amount of permit applications that they have to submit in total,” Borys told the committee.

She said the changes mark the first of several efforts to streamline the permit process. Another proposal to cut down on red tape is expected in the spring.

A city report predicts the changes will also free up resources to review more complex projects.

Projects that would no longer require development permits include some landscaping, small accessory structures (such as sheds), hot tubs/pools, patios, retaining walls, solar panels and driveways, among others, as long as the individual project meets a certain size and/or other set requirements.

Cory Kloos, a co-owner of Macanta Design Build Inc., said the city has taken significant recent strides to improve permitting through consultations with industry members. He welcomed the initial proposed changes and said he hopes more will follow to help speed up larger projects.

“During the tail end of the COVID years, we started experiencing some losses, not only due to permitting issues, but permitting issues were a contributing factor because they were causing delays and inefficiencies,” said Kloos.

For example, he said it took up to six months to get some city permits for large home additions and renovations and infill homes while construction costs were rapidly rising. He said a six-week permit timeline would have been more reasonable.

Brianna Solberg, a prairie director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, welcomed the effort to reduce delays, noting construction businesses have struggled with municipal red tape.

“The time it takes for them to get a permit delays their projects, delays compensation and ends up costing them money,” said Solberg.

A recent CFIB report noted a sample $20,000 renovation to convert a powder room into a full bathroom would require the applicant to pay $380 and complete seven documents to obtain permission in Winnipeg.

“If that’s what it costs to do a bathroom, imagine trying to add a secondary suite to your basement, which would increase (much-needed) housing supply,” said Solberg.

Coun. Sherri Rollins, chairwoman of the property and development committee, said the changes are greatly needed to address lengthy permitting waits that triggered complaints to her office last summer.

“I heard loud and clear that the permitting was slow … (and about) the dissatisfaction that people were having,” said Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), stressing efforts to address those concerns will continue throughout this year.

Borys said some projects will continue to require building permits and some will require declarations that the homeowner or builder will follow certain city rules. If the city sees a surge in developments breaking local rules following the changes, it will consider increasing fines, she said.

The changes are expected to affect between 500 and 600 permits and cost the city up to $67,500 in lost permit revenue in 2024.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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