Make your voices heard on infill issue

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/10/2020 (1878 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A deeply divisive issue is brewing and spilling into our mature, established neighbourhoods, and over the next several weeks, Winnipeg citizens will have the opportunity to give voice to their values.

The issue is lot-splitting.

As a case in point, Glenwood neighbourhood in St. Vital has not fared well. Despite many protests by area residents, 100 lot-splits have gone ahead to date, changing the look and feel of many streets, as small homes are razed and replaced by two tall houses. Dozens of full-grown trees have been cut down and replaced by saplings that will take decades to provide shade. Side yards and back yards have disappeared as cement parking pads take over. Construction headaches, inconveniences, and the speed of the developers’ wrecking ball have stunned this neighbourhood and others.

Manitobans value fairness and transparency. With release of the draft Small-Scale Residential Development Guidelines for Mature Communities (available online), city planners are trying to deliver a blueprint that will apply more evenly across the city. The difficulty is that this dense and often technical 88-page report does not capture a deeper sense of what makes Winnipeg neighbourhoods so unique.

Let’s take a step back.  

We can all agree that Winnipeg is incredibly fortunate to have many inviting neighbourhoods, including mature communities boasting homes that are well over 100 years old, with towering trees, established yards and gardens, and an immense variety of styles. In older neighbourhoods such as River Heights, Riverview or Elm Park, there are no two homes alike. Modest bungalows share the street with turn-of-the-century stone and brick houses.

Residents who are drawn to our older neighbourhoods choose to live there precisely because of the quirky and endearing character imbedded into the spirit of these places. They share this space with lots of urban animals. Yards and trees attract many species of songbirds, owls, rabbits, squirrels, deer and the occasional fox. Bees, butterflies and other pollinators are drawn to the numerous flower beds and vegetable gardens. Neighbourhoods are graceful, well-maintained, viable, healthy and sustainable, and provide a quality of life that is cherished.

Collectively, we are stewards of this land and these mature neighbourhoods. Indigenous elders urge us to consider the seven generations principle: decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. This intergenerational responsibility is one that we take seriously. One of our most iconic Canadians, Joni Mitchell, reminds us that once we pave paradise, well, that green space is gone for good.

This city report lands during the emerging second wave of an unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, when people are worried about their jobs, their kids and their aging parents. The city has given them just a few short weeks to weigh in on mostly technical questions, when they are preoccupied with much more pressing stresses. This short and narrow consultation is not acceptable.

Our role as councillors is to reflect the will and values of the citizens we serve, not the other way around. As we venture into our mature neighbourhoods with clipboards in hand, our job over the next several weeks is to listen.

City councillors Brian Mayes and Sherri Rollins submitted this joint column to The Lance and The Sou’wester.