Amendments needed to long-term blueprint
Winnipeg Free Press
Wednesday November 3 2004
By Mary Agnes Welch
PLANS for new housing, retail and road developments have spawned a flurry of changes to the city's long-term plan, prompting city hall to host a day of public hearings later this month.
Before the projects can get city hall's official go-ahead, council must amend its long-term blueprint, called Plan Winnipeg. The plan lays out what kind of development is allowed on each plot of land and where future roads and transit corridors should go.
Michelle Richard, the senior planner in charge of Plan Winnipeg, said the changes are mostly housekeeping matters needed to help the city keep up with new developments.
"This is a sign of the times," she said.
The four amendments to the plan include:
-Removing an old rail bridge across the Assiniboine River from the list of future transit corridors. Council has already approved a controversial plan to build condos on the bridge, but Plan Winnipeg needs to be tweaked to allow the project to go ahead. Opponents could use the Plan Winnipeg hearing as a last chance to quash the condo project. But Donald Benham, the local councillor, said he will support the amendment since the project will turn the dangerous, unused bridge into infill housing. "This is taking something with no value and creating value," he said.
-Rerouting a future truck route through Transcona connecting Bishop Grandin with Chief Peguis Trail.
Now, the route is slated to run along Plessis Road, which is partly residential and already has a traffic problem. The amendment would move the route slightly to the west along Bradley Street. Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt said the change offers the neighbourhood a long-term solution to growing truck traffic on Plessis Road.
-Making a 63-acre triangle of land along Kenaston Boulevard available for commercial instead of industrial development. There is already a Sobey's at the site just north of McGillivray Boulevard and a developer is interested in adding more commercial and retail stores nearby. So the city is updating the land's designation in Plan Winnipeg to accommodate more infill development in what's already one of the city's biggest retail clusters.
-Allowing residential and commercial development in the old Fort Rouge rail yards. The land was recently sold to a developer who wants to build as many as 1,300 condos, apartments and houses on the land nestled between the future rapid transit corridor and the Lord Roberts neighbourhood. Now the only kind of development allowed in industrial, which no longer fits the area.
The most controversial Plan Winnipeg amendment, the one needed to begin work on the Waverley West subdivision, is still in the works. The public hearing is not expected until early in the new year.
The four amendments will be considered by Mayor Sam Katz and his executive policy committee (EPC) Nov. 25 during what's expected to be an all-day meeting. The public and the developers are allowed to make submissions. City clerk Richard Kachur said there is usually only one Plan Winnipeg amendment every year.
After the public hearings, EPC and council will approve or reject the amendments. Then, the changes must be forwarded to the provincial government, which has veto power over Plan Winnipeg. The entire process can take months.