A Winnipeg councillor has called on the city to produce a map showing where it intends to allow fourplexes up to four-storeys tall without the need for a public hearing.
Last November, the federal government agreed to give the City of Winnipeg $122.4 million through its Housing Accelerator Fund.
In return, council agreed to take on a number of initiatives meant to speed up housing construction, including allowing people to build up to four units on residential lots citywide, and up to four storeys within 800 metres of “high-frequency transit corridors” as-of-right — meaning property owners would not need to apply for re-zoning or variances, which include an open hearing and a vote by city councillors.
A draft of a map shown to councillors at the time showed much of the city included within zones where the four-storey as-of-right rule would apply. Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) announced on Monday he intends to ask acting chief administrative officer Sherwood Armbruster for an update on the map at council’s next meeting on Thursday.
“We’ve been waiting 11 months,” Mayes told reporters at city hall.
“We were told it was a work in progress last November and I was expecting it this summer. It’s well past that. This is going to potentially affect a lot of people.”
Mayes says he’s concerned residents won’t have enough notice ahead of a public hearing on the zoning changes, tentatively scheduled for early next year.
“People are going to wake up and find out there have been some very big changes made to their neighbourhoods and they’re gonna call their councillors and berate them,” he said.
“And we’re gonna say … ‘The hearing was a month ago or two months ago, but I guess you didn’t find out.’ So let’s let people know what the proposed changes are. And if it passes, it passes.”
Most of St. James: resident
Kelly Ryback lives in St. James, and ran for the city council seat in the 2022 civic election. He says pending changes to the city’s zoning rules could affect the entire neighbourhood.
“If you look at rapid transit, 800 meters for St. James, looking at Portage Avenue and Ness Avenue, that is almost all of St. James,” Ryback said in an interview.
He pointed out a developer has applied to build a three-storey, eight-unit multi-family complex on a lot 555-square-metre lot on Parkview Street, just south of Portage Avenue, next to existing single-storey homes.
The proposed as-of-right rules would not apply to the new building, because the council motion approved last November specified that it would only apply to buildings with up to four units, with a height limit of 48 feet (14.6 metres), but he says it gives a sense of the scale of the buildings that could soon pop up all over the community.
“These proposed zoning changes are crucial for accommodating the city’s growing population and promoting transit-oriented development,” city spokesperson David Driedger wrote in an email statement.
“The proposed changes will include certain standards and conditions around landscaping, building form, lot size, and location to promote good design and a good fit with the existing context.”
WATCH | Winnipeg councillor wants map of proposed zoning changes:
A Winnipeg city councillor says he’s still waiting for the final version of a map showing which areas will be subject to sweeping zoning changes that would, among other things, allow four-plexes up to four storeys tall within 800 metres of frequent transit routes.
Deputy mayor Janice Lukes says she supports the change, and isn’t worried that she hasn’t seen a final draft of the map.
“There’ll be plenty of time. I, I know some counselors are stressed about this concept, but I think that, you know, we have to let time unfold. We will get the map.”
Public consultations are set to start in January, with the public hearing expected in March.