Sunday Homes Section
A river runs past it
Sunday, April 1, 2001
Story by Gloria Taylor
Photos by Jody Moroz
Walk through the Royalwood subdivision and you may just happen upon a deer in the woods or spot a turtle in the Seine.
Muskrat, beaver, a host of small creatures make their home in the waters and woods of the meandering Seine that winds its way leisurely down the west side of this St. Boniface subdivision south of Bishop Grandin Boulevard and west of St. Anne's Road.
"I saw one (a turtle) a foot wide once," says Harold Thwaites, whose environmental group, Save Our Seine River Environment Inc., is a major stakeholder in efforts to preserve the forested areas that envelop the river.
A natural amenity that hugs the western edge of the 500-acre-plus development and one that has caught the eye of no less than three levels of government and private interests, the Seine is definitely one of the focal points for homeowners, say people like Dennis Checkley, who came to the subdivision in 1994 to build custom homes, then stayed to build his own home in the development.
"I became a resident because I liked alll the benefits associated with Royalwood," says Checkley simply. "It was close to downtown, but still had forested areas. There was the Seine River and the walkway and all the amenities that Ladco developed."
Ladco Company Ltd. owns the undeveloped Royalwood in tandem with the provincial government. And the walkway Checkley refers to runs parallel to the Seine.
"People come from other neighbourhoods to walk along the path," says Jacqueline Mclintock, agent for Ventua Homes...
Royalwood was developed as a result of an agreement between the provincial government and Ladco in 1989. Lots were sold beginning in the early 90's.
Henry Bos, director of corporate services for Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corp., said MHRC contributed 179 acres to Ladco's 298.6 and under the agreement the province owns 37.6 per cent of the subdivision. It assumes a proportionate share of developmental costs while Ladco generally manages the project.
"This was prime land that was just sitting there," said Bos, adding "It has been a very successful development."
So far, about half the tract has been developed for homes in phase one of two phases. Lots in the subdivision range from about $30,000 to $70,000, according to Checkley, who says property, houses and lots together can cost anywhere from about $150,000 to more than $1 million on the lake, making the subdivision amenable to a range of budgets.
South of John Bruce Road, most of the land is still zoned as agricultural, but not all. Tom Brzozowski, chief zoning officer for the City of Winnipeg, said a 381-foot strip immediately south of John Bruce Road, which angles its way through the settlement, has already been re-zoned to residential - a move which could signal the start of Royalwood's second phase.
SOS, meanwhile, has received federal dollars to draw a concept of the trails and the preserve it would like to see developed for the river and the woodlands. The city has also begun "early negotiations" with Ladco in hope of purchasing an 80-acre clump of woodland south of John Bruce Road for the same reason, says Kevin Lalor, of the city's planning branch. Both were members of a task force looking into development of the Seine.
Edited version retrieved January 2, 2003 from
http://www.ashomes.mb.ca/fp1.htm