More student housing comes to Fairfield Park

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This article was published 07/06/2022 (1458 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Assiniboia community committee last convened on May 27 in what was one of the shorter west Winnipeg council meetings in recent memory.

During the 47 minutes of delegations and discussion, Coun. Scott Gillingham (St. James), Coun. Kevin Klein (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) and Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West) voted upon a handful of new development proposals and several initiatives for the community and the environment.

The trio approved the proposal, with no amendments, for a student housing building (with main floor commercial space) at 2537 Pembina Hwy.

The 16-storey, 349-unit development will sit on 1.3 acres located just south of the intersection of Bison Drive in the Fairfield Park neighbourhood. The building, called the Align Student Residence, will be located directly to the south of the Arc Student Residence, a similar structure designed and developed by the same teams that opened in 2020.

“It’s actually pretty emotional for me to see this coming to fruition,” Lukes said during the meeting. “The first building creates such a defining statement on Pembina.”

Lukes went on to explain that the building’s commercial space, which is set to occupy 7736-square-feet on the main floor, will pair nicely with the area’s high foot traffic.

The committee also approved two electric vehicle charging stations and four electric vehicle parking stalls for 50 Centre St. in the Bridgwater Centre neighbourhood of Waverley West. The site is currently home to a gas station, store and a car wash.

Another Waverley West project that received the councillors’ approval was a plan for a 20-foot-tall freestanding, illuminated sign at 100 South Town Rd. Altea Real Estate Holdings will own the sign.

Moving over to Klein’s ward, the councillors voted unanimously to waive the community incentive grant program’s eligibility requirements in order to allocate $50,000 to the Charleswood 55-Plus Active Living Centre.

The centre will use the money to pay for its new building renovation project. The organization will be moving into the Oakdale Senior Residences (363-365 Oakdale Dr.) once the building is complete.

The committee approved a motion to have the public service conduct a traffic study to determine whether a section of Roblin Boulevard would benefit from traffic-calming measures. The section of roadway in question lies between Grant Avenue and the William R. Clement Parkway.

Klein put forward the motion on behalf of several area residents. He explained during the meeting that the homes along this part of Roblin Boulevard front onto the street and, because of this, residents are concerned about exiting their driveways into 60 km/hr traffic.

Next, the committee approved Klein’s motion to create bylaws that protect city trees, mainly from damage or removal during construction projects.

“This doesn’t have much to do with our forestry strategy; this is a specific bylaw that will deal with trees and such within developments moving forward,” Klein said. “I’m just looking for the department to have something in place for our tree protection … This is really saying, “Can we get to work on this now?’”

The public service has 90 days to report back with a draft bylaw — specifically for areas designated as major open spaces — that outlines which trees are eligible for protection, what measures will be put in place to keep them safe, and the penalty for non-compliance.

Within 270 days, the public service must table a similar draft bylaw for areas not considered major open spaces.

The committee concluded the morning’s meeting by greenlighting Klein’s motion to have the public service report back in 60 days on the International Energy Agency’s Playing My Part report. This nine-point plan gives citizens and governments a framework to reduce reliance on Russian energy, lower emissions, and save money.

On the subject of the next Assiniboia community committee meeting, which will be held on June 27, Lukes joked with her fellow councillors: “Just saying, bring your lunch kit … We’re going to have a real doozy on our hands.”