Proposed housing project would put curling club on thin ice: Granite lawyer

Advertisement

Advertise with us

A hotly debated affordable housing project slated for the Granite Curling Club’s parking lot is under the microscope once again.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Monthly Digital Subscription

$1 per week for 24 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Monthly Digital Subscription

$4.75/week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

No thanks

*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.

A hotly debated affordable housing project slated for the Granite Curling Club’s parking lot is under the microscope once again.

On Tuesday, the provincially appointed Manitoba Municipal Board began hearing the application to create an 111-unit residential building on the city-owned land at 22 Granite Way, which would include 56 suites that have affordable rents for 99 years.

The curling club, which was established in 1880, says it would lose more than half its parking stalls if the project goes forward, rendering it no longer viable.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
                                The Granite Curling Club, which was established in 1880, says it would lose more than half its parking stalls if a proposed housing project slated for the club’s parking lot goes forward, rendering it no longer viable.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES

The Granite Curling Club, which was established in 1880, says it would lose more than half its parking stalls if a proposed housing project slated for the club’s parking lot goes forward, rendering it no longer viable.

During the hearing, the club’s lawyer pushed city officials to provide more information on how a parking agreement could be reached to address the concerns, should the project be built.

“That is absolutely a critical issue for this board to determine, by making its recommendation to council, as to whether this bylaw should proceed to second reading or whether it should be rejected,” said James Mercury.

If the development goes ahead as planned, the club expects to see its 80 total parking spots reduced to 35, which it says would lead to losing too many members to continue.

When city council approved the housing project, it directed staff to work with the curling club to create “an adequate parking plan” that sustains its operations.

During the hearing, city officials called it premature to note future parking options before a final decision on the project is made.

“Having those discussions would be futile, it would be going in circles. We need the answers to the zoning before those discussions can proceed in a fruitful and meaningful way,” said Kalyn Bomback, the city’s lawyer.

Mercury also questioned why the city moved the project forward quickly without more public consultation.

“This process has moved at lightning speed,” he said.

In a public written submission, professional planner John Wintrup argues the city’s process to approve a rezoning application for the project fell short, lacking expert information on floodproofing, riverbank stabilization and building (fire) code impacts.

“The city cannot simply decide ad hoc not to adhere to their own policies,” Wintrup wrote.

He declined an interview Tuesday, noting he expects to speak at the hearing.

The city’s downtown planner, however, told the hearing such impacts would be dealt with through permits, not the rezoning process. Daniel Iskierski also deemed the project a strong fit with city goals and policies, since it would replace surface parking spaces with affordable homes.

A developer leading the housing project on the city’s behalf said there is ample demand for the affordable homes it would create.

“We know there’s a national housing crisis, we know that that’s true of the City of Winnipeg. And we know in the West Broadway neighbourhood, in particular, there’s a real demand for affordable and market rental housing,” said Jeremy Read, chief executive officer of the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation and UWCRC 2.0 Inc.

Read said the lack of a final decision on the project has delayed progress since council approved it six months ago, including a missed deadline to apply for $8.5 million of funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

During the hearing, city officials noted the curling club property would also require municipal approval to continue some of its own parking operations, since it leases some stalls to raise revenue.

The curling club has said the city has long been aware of that practice.

Housing advocates have also signed up to urge the board to recommend that the project proceed.

“It would be … a travesty for the city to keep its prime city-owned land permanently in the state of being in an impervious surface parking lot, especially when we have such housing need,” said Dylon Martin, a spokesman for Yes in My Back Yard Winnipeg, in an interview.

Martin said the project would meet city goals to boost housing, develop the downtown and reduce poverty.

Following the hearing, the municipal board will submit a report with recommendations to city council within 60 days.

A board document notes city council will cast the final vote on its recommendations. However, it also notes “council must not pass a proposed zoning bylaw that has been referred to the Municipal Board unless the proposed bylaw conforms to the recommendations that the board has made.”

That clause has led many city officials and politicians to deem the board’s recommendations mandatory.

The hearing at the Norwood Community Centre will continue Wednesday.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga

Joyanne Pursaga

Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Report Error Submit a Tip

Local

LOAD MORE