Jubilee apartments get green light

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This article was published 10/05/2021 (1837 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Plans for a new pair of apartment blocks on Jubilee Avenue got the go-ahead from the city recently after numerous appeals from area residents were considered and building plans scaled back somewhat.

Following a marathon two-day appeal committee hearing last month, committee members ultimately voted in favour of rezoning two empty lots from residential two-family (R2 duplex) to residential multi-family (RMF), and placed conditions on Vitaly Ishin’s Vishin Developments and property owner Chong Kim Mok regarding the height of the buildings and the number of trees on the grounds.

The committee — made up of councillors Matt Allard (chair), Markus Chambers, Devi Sharma and Jeff Browaty — denied the residents’ appeals, allowing Vishin to proceed with building a six-plex at 912 Jubilee, scaled back from an eight-plex, and from three to two storeys in height.

After a break, the committee — minus Chambers, who had another engagement — returned to hear the appellants about their objections to the plans. The councillors agreed to support the development of the six-plex at 914 Jubilee, with the building height limited to two storeys, and a doubling of the number of trees on the site.

The appeals for the two addresses began the morning of April 22 at a special meeting of the committee and spilled over to an all-day session the following day due to the number of residents making presentations.

Resident Bennie Gusnowsky, who led the appellants group of more than 20 neighbours plus a petition with 86 signatures from other area residents, argued the apartments would be too big for the area and additional traffic would put pressure on an already-stressed back lane.

“This part of Jubilee is like an island. There is no parking on the front street, so all deliveries, all taxis and Ubers have to filter down the back lane,“ said Gusnowsky, who lives in a duplex adjacent to the sites. “Fifty per cent of the garages in the lane have been hit by a car already. Adding a dozen more vehicles would be an accident waiting to happen.”

Other residents noted there is parking spill-over onto adjacent streets already, something added to during the months when the Bridge Drive-In is operating or when traffic backs up on Pembina Highway.

“Merriam (Boulevard) is the first place people look for parking,” area resident Maria Cotter said. “Those of us without a garage already have trouble finding parking on our street.”

The committee required the developer to consult with an arborist to maintain as many mature trees as possible on the property.

“I’m open to additional trees, and will be donating an equal number of trees, whether on the boulevard across the street or at a community centre or a school,” Vishin said, adding he would plant a line of cedar trees along the western edge of the properties to screen the buildings from neighbours.

This was the second round of appeals hearings regarding the proposed apartments, with the developer required to do further community consultation after a Feb. 18 appeal hearing. Vishin hired Richard + Wintrup to hold virtual community engagement meetings, and noted the company “essentially quit because they could not find common ground with the appellants.”

Speaking in opposition to the appeal, Ishin said it isn’t financially feasible to build fewer than the two six-plex apartments.

“I worked with the city planners and we changed the plans from eight to six apartments, eliminated water draining onto the back lane,” Ishin said.

He noted the air-conditioning unit for both buildings will be located between them, to reduce spill-over noise to the neighbours. Snow cleared from the parking area would be stored on the grounds, not in the lane. Vishin also said he consulted a traffic engineering firm which told him cars from the new development would have a negligible impact on the back lane.

“We’re going to be using high quality materials,” Ishin said of the construction, adding there is a lot of interest by people wishing to live near the bus rapid transit line.

Resident Annette Wilborn said she was worried large apartment complexes will become a trend in the area, due to its proximity to the nearby rapid transit line.

“It was a mistake when the city allowed the six-plex at 868 Jubilee,” she said, adding she surveyed the housing types in the neighbourhood, which primarily consist of single-family homes and duplexes.

Each of the units will have three bedrooms, but Ishin couldn’t estimate how many people would live in each. “It could be a young couple using the other bedrooms for office space, or it could be a young family with three kids,” he said.

Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) spoke in favour of the appeals, saying the apartment would create an adverse effect on the neighbourhood. “People on this part of Jubilee cannot park on the front street,” she said, arguing the safety of residents was at issue, given the amount of traffic in the back lane, which includes patrons of the Cambridge Hotel and Fountain Tire.

“In the end, compatibility should matter,” she said. “Civic life in Fort Garry should matter.”

For more information, visit bit.ly/3eD1c8O and search for the April 22 and 23 appeal committee meetings.

— Canstar News