Plenty of housing plans approved by Riel committee

St. Vital

The Riel Community Committee held its regular meeting on June 26.

Coun. Brain Mayes (St. Vital), who recently announced he would not be seeking re-election, submitted a motion for road and traffic improvements at the Abinojii Mikanah and St. Anne’s Road intersection, citing traffic concerns from residents in the area.

Since 2009, the City of Winnipeg has sat on $119,900.96 in a future services account — meaning the money in that account can only be used to repair and maintain city infrastructure along St. Anne’s Rd.

Mayes called the way the money is handled “a breach of fiduciary duty.”

“You can’t use the money for anywhere else but this narrow geographic area, but then we take the interest and put it into general revenue,” Mayes explained.

“Now, guess what, now this is worth half of what it was,” he said.

“Let’s do something, I don’t even care what it is at this stage, let’s do something to help the traffic on Abinojii Mikanah and St. Anne’s Road using the money we’ve been sitting on,” he said finally.

Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert – Seine River) raised the question, what could be done for that amount of money, to which Mayes responded, “a lot less than could have been done 17 years ago.”

During one of his final meetings as the area councillor, Mayes recommended an inquiry into a stronger police presence in the south end of the city, and the committee suggested property and development investigate leasing the former Dakota Family foods (1099 St. Mary’s Rd.,) as a new police station in the area. Chambers identified complaints from residents over rising crime and growing populations as his reason for supporting the motion.

Committee members also approved five development plans and a plan for a proposed subdivision during.

The first approved plan is for two multifamily builds beside each other on a vacant lot in St. Boniface along Paulette Dugay Street. Both buildings are six storeys tall with a combined total of 146 units and underground parking.

The other St. Boniface development proposal approved by the committee is for a six-storey mixed-use residential building with 45 units, and three commercial spaces on the first floor between 391 and 401 Provencher Blvd.

In the St. Vital ward, two more multi-family developments were approved. The first, along Gypsum Drive, is for a duplex development with a total of 28 units, each with two bedrooms and 56 parking spots.

The last of the multi-family developments approved is for a seven-storey building on Sage Creek Boulevard with 168 units.

The final plan approval is for commercial development with six buildings on eight acres of vacant land at 55 Sage Creek Blvd. In total, there are 13 commercial rental units, and one planned supermarket and fitness centre. The other four buildings proposed include six restaurants, four personal services use, an office building, and a healthcare-adjacent building.

Mayes proposed a potential library to be added to on of the units. “I’d like to see a library go in there, but that’s for another day,” he said before approving the plan.

While five public hearings were on the agenda, only one was heard regarding a variance for a multi-family development along Sage Creek Boulevard in the open fields that would change the size of the front yard, side yard, and balcony.

With no registered opposition, council approved the decision.

The other three of the four remaining hearings were all for plans in the St. Boniface ward. Area Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface) was not at the meeting, so Mayes laid the hearings over to the committee’s special meeting held on June 30.