City seeking change to Municipal Board authority on land-use decisions

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This article was published 01/10/2024 (384 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg will ask the provincial government to scrap a controversial change that gave an appointed board the final word on some city land-use decisions.

Removing that power from the Manitoba Municipal Board tops the list of changes the city will seek to development legislation that triggered ample backlash from municipalities.

“It added additional bureaucracy, to which no one… (is satisfied),” said Coun. Sherri Rollins, chairwoman of council’s property and development committee.

The added power led the board to hear appeals of otherwise final city council decisions and impose its own binding outcomes.

The city will call for several major changes to that board, including removing the ability for residents, applicants and/or landowners to appeal council decisions to it, following a staff proposal that council endorsed last week.

“The City of Winnipeg does not support an unelected board making decisions on matters for which final decision-making authority (rested) with an elected council,” a city staff report notes.

Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) said the change has thwarted an important project. In 2022, the board rejected a 199-dwelling unit, 55-plus apartment development at 4025 Roblin Blvd. after Winnipeg city council approved it, she noted.

The change was among many imposed by legislation of the former Progressive Conservative provincial government, which began taking effect in 2021. The new rules followed a report that criticized Winnipeg land-use decisions and deemed the city’s local permitting process “dysfunctional.”

The province said the new legislation would streamline development.

But many municipalities opposed the new rules, complaining Municipal Board hearings added new expenses and undermined their autonomy.

Rollins noted Winnipeg’s list of proposed changes is being submitted as the province reviews the bills.

“It’s a point-in-time review based on a piece of legislation that I’m not sure the current government backs in the same way that the previous one did,” she said.

The city will also push the province to increase the 25-voter threshold to 150 for residents to file an objection to the Municipal Board. City staff had recommended that minimum requirement rise to 500 voters before council amended the plan.

The bills also imposed new target timelines for development, such as requiring the intake process for each residential and commercial permit application within five business days leading up to Tuesday, and within two business days now.

Rollins said she doesn’t take issue with the development timelines but blames the “incomplete” legislation for creating confusion.

“It is difficult to understand what the government meant because the legislative writing is so terrible.… It left Winnipeg with a lot of unanswered questions,” she said.

Coun. Brian Mayes voted against endorsing the city’s request for changes. Mayes (St. Vital) said he sees value in the Municipal Board weighing in on city decisions.

“I don’t mind having some provincial oversight of our decisions because I have found, over the past (few) years, our decisions have been pretty wildly political and inconsistent,” he said.

For example, he said the city consistently allows lot splits to create dense housing in Glenwood, while lower density projects are rejected in River Heights.

Mayes said he voted in favour of setting the minimum voter threshold to trigger an appeal at 150 instead of 500, since both residents and developers should have a fair chance to appeal city decisions.

“I don’t think you should need 500 residents to appeal something. That’s an artificial barrier designed to make it almost impossible for residents to get to the municipal board. I’m glad we got rid of that,” he said.

Meanwhile, an industry leader said he also sees value in having an appeal body for city land-use decisions.

“Our members support having that kind of second-look opportunity (for a development) but there’s aspects of how it was implemented that we raised concerns with from the outset,” said Lanny McInnes, president of the Manitoba Home Builders’ Association.

McInnes said he believes the threshold was set too low to allow just 25 people to trigger an appeal.

“In some cases, (they) may not have a specific reason for opposing a municipal decision other than they didn’t like it. Having that threshold so low empowers frivolous appeals,” he said.

In a recent email, Manitoba Municipal Relations Minister Ian Bushie did not reveal any specific changes the province would consider.

“Our government aims to ensure that the review… is thorough and we are awaiting a final report. Any implementation of recommended changes will be in conjunction with the municipalities and the City of Winnipeg,” the statement said.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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