Provincial board’s decision to quash high-density housing complex has Winnipeg’s mayor concerned

A 55-and-over housing complex approved by Winnipeg city council last winter has been overturned by the Manitoba Municipal Board.

The 10-storey, 199 unit apartment building was slated to be built in Charleswood on the northwest corner of Roblin Blvd. and William Clement Parkway.

After the city approved a rezoning application for the development, area residents went to the Municipal Board which held three days of hearings and rejected the application.

The residents were able to do so because of recently-passed provincial legislation that gives the board the power to hear appeals on land-use decisions made by municipalities, but the board’s ruling isn’t sitting well with everyone.

“I’m disappointed with the ruling of the Municipal Board,” said Scott Gillingham, Winnipeg’s newly-elected mayor.

In the first hearing of its kind, the provincially-appointed board rejected the 10-storey L-shaped apartment complex at 4025 Roblin Blvd.  It would have been built next to the historic Odd Fellows building, which is a 30-unit assisted living facility.

Hundreds of residents opposed to the project appealed a February decision by Winnipeg city council to approve a rezoning application for the apartment, an application Gillingham supported as a city councillor.

“I made the decision then to approve the project based on the city’s own planning policies and our secondary planning, Complete Communities 2.0, which calls for intensification and density, especially along major corridors and that location is a major corridor,” Gillingham said.

The mayor is also worried what message the ruling - and the Municipal Board’s ability to overturn municipal land-use decisions - will send to developers of other projects.

“We really need to understand if this is one of many decisions like this to come and if it’s that’s the case, what that would do for our city,” Gillingham said.  “We need good infill.  We need new development as well.”

Concerns shared by Lanny McInnes, head of the Manitoba Home Builders’ Association.

“We’re concerned that this process is going to open the door to most infill projects being appealed to the municipal board by local residents or even organized groups,” McInnes said.

The Municipal Board said it doesn’t comment on its written orders and decisions but in a copy of the ruling obtained by CTV News Winnipeg the board wrote that it considers the size and scale of the proposed development to be incompatible with the character, context and built form of the surrounding homes and established neighbourhood.

“The Board is of the view that the site is appropriate for some level of infill development and that the existing RMF-S (Residential Multi-Family – Small) zoning, which is intended to accommodate a mix of residential multi-family types at lower heights and densities, would still allow new development of diverse, high-quality housing stock, but in a form and density that are sensitive and complementary to the character and features of this unique site and area,” the board wrote in its decision.

Brent Horrill is the president of the nearby Assiniboine Crossing Condo Corporation which contains 40 units and is one of several area residents in Charleswood who opposed to the development.

“Well obviously we as residents here love it,” Horrill said.  “We think it’s a great decision.”

“It was the size of the project.  The 10-storey, the 8-storey, 199 units.  It just was destroying what Charleswood is about.”

Gillingham hopes to a conversation with the provincial government on the broader issue regarding the Municipal Board’s new decision-making power.

The Manitoba government appears open to discussing the matter.

“The Municipal Board is an independent body and we respect their decision, however the city also has by-law making authority, and we also respect any follow up from them on the board’s decision,” a government spokesperson wrote.

The Municipal Board said its report has been submitted to the City of Winnipeg.

Gillingham said the city has to comply with the recommendations of the board, meaning the developer would have to start a whole new development process to revive the project.

 The developer, Daniel Serhal, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment on any next steps.