Battle over Lemay Forest development could be heading to court
The battle over the Lemay Forest could be heading to court as the developer who owns the land is threatening the city with legal action.
Tochal Developments wants to build an assisted living facility on the site, and says it is waiting on the city to proceed.
The developer accuses City of Winnipeg planners of stalling the application process.
“The next logical step if the city doesn't respond to processing our application is legal action,” said John Wintrup, a professional planner who represents the developer.
At the same time, the developer says it received low-ball offers to sell the land.
The company has said it will sell the forest for the right price, but has received offers from the Manitoba Habitat Conservancy (MHC) and Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) for less than half of what the land is worth.
Now, Tochal Developments has sent a letter to the City of Winnipeg threatening legal action.
It alleges the city's planning department is delaying its development application.
The letter says the developer has no intention of selling the property for such paltry sums, and will commence lawfully permitted pre-development activities shortly.
“Then we get an offer, a lowball offer, to purchase the land within five days, to accept it or not while the city is delaying our application for moving forward. This is all too coincidental for us,” Wintrup said.
Area residents have been pushing to keep the forest as is.
In January, the city started exploring options with other groups who may want to buy the property.
The MHC says its offer is based on an independent appraisal.
The organization has secured funding from the federal and provincial governments, but it expires at the end of the month.
"We tried to provide a fair and full value for the property and keep it for the residents of Winnipeg so yeah, I'm disappointed the offer was not accepted,” said MHC CEO Stephen Carlyle.
MMF president David Chartrand says if a purchase price can't be reached, he is willing to start legal action of his own to prevent any development, as he has concerns there could be a cemetery there from a former orphanage.
“St. Norbert is very historic to us as Métis, of course. This is where the Métis stood firm, prevented the invasion of what we called Upper Canada at the time,” he said.
The City of Winnipeg declined to comment on the matter.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Is there a cost to convenience? Canada approves new cancer immunotherapy treatment
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.
Archeologists search for remnants of Halifax's 250-year-old wall that surrounded the city
Archeologist Jonathan Fowler is using ground-penetrating radar to search for historic evidence of the massive wall that surrounded Halifax more than 250 years ago.
Canada's new dental program offering hope of free care to millions but many dentists aren't signed up
A new Canadian dental care program is offering the hope of free care to millions, but while 1.7 million people have signed up for the plan, only about 5,000 dentists have done the same.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
'Deeply unhappy' grocery shoppers plan to boycott Loblaw-owned stores in May
A boycott targeting Loblaw is gaining momentum online, with what could be thousands of shoppers taking their money elsewhere in May.
Province boots mayor and council in small northern Ont. town out of office
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
Winner of US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot is an immigrant from Laos who has cancer
One of the winners of a historic US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Anne Hathaway reveals she's now five years sober
Anne Hathaway first shared she lost interest in drinking after a bad hangover in 2018. She’s now five years sober.
3 law officers serving warrant are killed, 5 wounded in shootout at North Carolina home, police say
Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said.