Mayes wants St. Vital residents ready for fight over new fourplex zoning rules

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On Thursday, St. Vital Councillor Brian Mayes held the first of three Town Halls about the city plans to comply with federal conditions to receive $122M in Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) monies.

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The conditions, imposed under the guise of creating “affordable” housing, include legalizing four units on any residential lot in Winnipeg “where appropriate”. This will enable four storey builds within 800 meters of transit corridors, and revising zoning rules to allow “mid-rise housing” for shopping mall and commercial corridor sites.

The city is holding a public hearing on Nov. 19 on proposed changes to the Winnipeg Zoning By-law for the Malls and Corridors component, but the more contentious changes to allow fourplexes as-a-right won’t come to council until March.

Mayes scheduled the Town Halls to focus on the fourplex proposals and ensure his residents are amply prepared, because “the fight is coming. I’m trying to make people aware.”

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The municipal processes allowing for community opposition to such projects are being almost entirely erased to speed up approvals and collect the federal cash.

A community centre crowd heard Mayes explain that concern was expressed within the administration that he was having a public meeting now, instead of waiting until the actual map detailing which streets will fall under the HAF zone is released in January.

Mayes said he was lectured, “You’re not doing your job” by one staffer, but as he told the audience, “I’ll define what my job is.”

He predicted that when the map, already a year in the making, is finally released in January “the city will hold four (information) nights scheduled at four malls with four days notice. We should be doing this in a bunch of different forums.”

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One of his biggest concerns, aside from how minimum lot dimensions and building form standards will be defined by council, is the increase in allowable height of new builds to 48 feet. That will dwarf existing properties.

“If we’re going to make a 70% increase you should let the neighbours know.”

According to Mayes, no other city applying for the HAF had that height requirement imposed by federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser.

In addition, Mayes noted a change in government in 2025 could result in the city making zoning changes that will alter neighborhoods permanently, in anticipation of a Liberal program that Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to chop.

Because of HAF being connected to frequent transit routes, some areas of St. Vital ward such as Sage Creek and near St. Amant Centre will be untouched by potential fourplex projects. According to Mayes, as it stands, the Seine River-St. Norbert ward is also “magically” left out of the targeted areas.

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The residents who came to the session had a litany of bad experiences with the boom of infill housing projects in St. Vital neighborhoods. They expressed deep skepticism that the HAF dough — which is being doled out at a mere $30M per year over 4 years — is worth the sacrifice of their property values and neighborhood cohesion.

Ray Hesslein, past chair of the Glenwood Neighborhood Association, stated that by allowing fourplexes and similar projects blocks away from streets transit buses utilize, the City would be imposing a bad policy that would compound the ongoing failures of city planners.

“To densify randomly, it doesn’t make any sense. I never see any effort from the planning department. This isn’t working.”

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Hesslein says that in Glenwood the result is clear: Multi-unit housing for the sake of density results in “kids have no yard anymore, so they’re playing on the street where there’s parked cars. Where do the people who live in fourplexes go for recreation?”

Mayes related that during the battles inside city council over the plethora of infill housing irrevocably changing the area, one councillor remarked “there’s nothing in Glenwood worth saving.”

Many in attendance spoke of how recent infills aren’t suited to some lot sizes and have insufficient parking, no snow storage capacity, or proper space for garbage and recycling bins. All those factors can affect neighbouring property owners.

Another concern raised by participants is the lack of enforcement of infill construction guidelines by the city, and the lack of accountability for noise, debris and other issues. Hesslein and Mayes concur that housing projects approved under the HAF should only be granted to members of the Manitoba Home Builder’s Association. They can help address complaints when the activity at the construction sites conflict with neighborhood stakeholders.

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A number of those speaking insisted that fourplexes and infill housing, especially if they include rentals, secondary suites, and are used as Airbnbs, only decreases property values for existing homeowners.

Mayes believes streets with gravel lanes — of which St. Vital has 28% of Winnipeg’s total amount, will be exempted from the coming fourplex free-for-all.  Granting a paved back lane and being connected to city sewer and water services will be pre-conditions that council will approve.

The full attendance at the first meeting “does validate our decision to hold this,” Mayes said. He invited Mayor Scott Gillingham’s office to send an observer but no one attended the noontime session, and the Planning department declined an invitation to send a representative to speak at the Town Halls.

He’s holding another Town Hall at the Norberry-Glenlee Community Centre, 176 Worthington Avenue, on Nov. 25 from 7 to 9pm.

— Marty Gold is a Winnipeg journalist. You can find more of his work at The Great Canadian Talk Show (https://actionline.ca/2024/02/donate-2/).

Have thoughts on what’s going on in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada or across the world? Send us a letter to the editor at wpgsun.letters@kleinmedia.ca

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