KLEIN: Delays at city hall behind some of Winnipeg’s housing crunch

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The Manitoba government’s announced amendments to the Planning Act and the City of Winnipeg Charter Act are set to change the landscape of how neighbourhoods make appeals to the Municipal Board in this province.

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These changes, billed as a way to expedite housing construction, carry serious implications for local residents. They remove much of the public’s ability to appeal city council decisions on zoning changes, making it impossible for citizens to challenge developments that could significantly alter their communities once their city council approves them.

The amendments specifically target the number of people required to trigger a public appeal to the Manitoba Municipal Board. In Winnipeg, Brandon, and municipalities with populations over 6,000, 300 eligible people need to object for an appeal to go forward, a steep climb from the previous threshold of 25. This may seem like a minor adjustment, but in reality, it renders neighbourhoods powerless, which is likely the intent of the changes.

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But, what if a city council halts a development that should proceed? There are many examples where city councils have stalled crucial projects. Consider Parker Lands, a massive development opportunity that remains stuck in bureaucratic limbo. The project, which could have added 4,000 new residences, has been delayed for more than a decade. Similarly, development in the Lemay Forest area faces continual delays, and despite the cries for more housing, the city seems to be adept at slowing down large-scale projects that would bring relief to the housing market.

At the same time, the City of Winnipeg is pushing through aggressive zoning changes in established neighbourhoods that would allow for the construction of 48-foot high triplexes on 25-foot lots, or even larger four-plexes on slightly bigger lots. These are not hypothetical situations. The city is effectively stripping away the ability for neighbours to appeal these decisions, placing the interests of city councillors and city planners above those of the community members who will have to live with the consequences.

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The rationale behind these amendments is the perennial claim that Manitoba, and especially Winnipeg, needs more housing. But if that’s the case, why do major developments like Parker Lands remain in a bureaucratic quagmire? The public is being asked to accept higher density and significant changes to their neighbourhoods under the guise of a housing shortage, yet the city itself is failing to push through projects that could alleviate the problem.

Mayor Scott Gillingham’s recent announcement that developers will be required to hand over 10% of their land for parks, and then be responsible for maintaining those parks forever, adds another layer of complication. It is no surprise that developers are wary of entering into large projects under these conditions. This, combined with the fact that the city’s decision-making process is often slow and inconsistent, means that development is being stifled, not accelerated.

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These legislative amendments appear to be focused solely on limiting the ability of the public to challenge the decisions made by city councils and planning departments. The appeal options for developers, however, remain intact. They still have the ability to appeal rejections, conditions attached to approvals, or timing issues to the Municipal Board. In other words, the playing field has been tilted in favour of those looking to build, while the concerns of residents, who may not want large developments in their backyards, have been sidelined.

Developers often cite city hall itself as the primary bottleneck in the building process. When I speak with developers, the problem they identify isn’t zoning, it’s the layers of red tape and bureaucracy that delay projects for months or even years. One developer might spend months meeting all the requirements for a project only to have Water and Waste step in at the 11th hour and block the development. This is not the kind of system that encourages growth.

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The process for getting anything built in Winnipeg is convoluted, requiring developers to jump through hoops in multiple departments. Traffic, fire, water and sewer, planning — the list goes on. Every department has its own set of requirements, and there is no single point of contact to help developers navigate the process. It’s no wonder that projects get stalled, often indefinitely, because it’s difficult to meet every department’s requirements when they operate in silos.

If Winnipeg wants to encourage development and attract investment, it needs to address the root of the problem. Fixing city hall is where the solution lies. Rather than restricting public input and stifling appeals, the city should look at streamlining its own internal processes.

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One potential solution is creating a system where developers deal with one representative who acts as a liaison between them and all relevant departments. This project manager could shepherd the application through the necessary steps, coordinating between traffic, water, fire, and planning, ensuring that all necessary documents are submitted at the right time and that no department is causing undue delays.

This representative would also be responsible for tracking how long each part of the process takes. If one department consistently holds up approvals, the data could be used to pinpoint where improvements need to be made. Developers would no longer have to go from one department to another, explaining their project over and over. Instead, they would have a single point of contact who would manage the process and keep things moving.

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Currently, it takes more than a year for some developments to be approved in Winnipeg. This is unacceptable if the city is serious about addressing the housing crisis. City hall needs to treat development as a business, because that’s exactly what it is. The economic impact of housing developments is significant, and if the city continues to bog down the process with red tape and inefficiency, developers will go elsewhere, and the housing crunch will only worsen.

While the provincial amendments to the appeals process may make it easier for municipalities to push through zoning changes, they do nothing to address the underlying issues that are really holding back development in Winnipeg. Instead of removing public input from the equation, the city should be focusing on fixing its own bureaucratic inefficiencies. Only by making city hall more responsive and less cumbersome will Winnipeg be able to meet its housing needs and attract the development that is so desperately needed.

— Kevin Klein is a former Tory cabinet minister, a former city councillor and President & CEO of Klein Group Ltd.

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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