Change is keyword in move to define infill boundaries By: Tessa Vanderhart Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 18, 2019

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/09/2019 (1962 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After 40 years of sprawl, Winnipeg is trying to grow up — but first, it will have to update its rules on infill development in mature neighbourhoods.

Winnipeg’s footprint grew three times faster than its population from 1971 to 2011, city documents show. For the last five years, 15 per cent of growth has been infill development in older neighbourhoods — a whiplash change that’s sparked concerns about different rules for different neighbourhoods and too much change, too fast.

While many infill developments are approved by city hall despite community opposition, Charleswood residents were able to block a 100-foot lot from being split early this summer.

“The lack of consistency and the imprecise guidelines is the most important thing,” River Heights resident Ann Hodges said. “There are criteria that are meant to be used.

“What we’ve found is, generally, they’re kind of shortcut decisions that have been made instead.”

“The process seems to be not transparent, not fair. It seems to be taking a lot of time and energy from neighbours but also from developers and councillors. It just seems very convoluted at this point. It’s been very eye-opening for me.”– River Heights resident Ann Hodges

Many River Heights residents opened their mailboxes this week to find a brochure made by Hodges and other neighbours, outlining some of the issues in flux, from controversial lot-splitting (building two houses where one used to stand) to loss of greenspace.

At the same time, the City of Winnipeg launched community consultations hoping to develop new rules on infill that can be consistently applied. (There’s an online survey and public meetings Sept. 24-Oct. 3.)

The release of the brochure just before the consultations launched is just a happy coincidence, said Hodges.

She and other area residents have made appearances at city hall for months, after noticing several mature trees were cut down as part of a development on Renfrew Street. Soon after, another developer proposed splitting a lot at 143 Renfrew St. into two, with two houses. The neighbours are now organizing to share their concerns — and what they’ve learned by fighting city hall.

“The process seems to be not transparent, not fair. It seems to be taking a lot of time and energy from neighbours but also from developers and councillors. It just seems very convoluted at this point,” she said. “It’s been very eye-opening for me.”

For Hodges, one of the biggest concerns with infill is environmental impacts such as combined sewer overflows — when the pipes below mature neighbourhoods get too much waste water and sewage.

However, each house now contains fewer people on average, city demographics show.

“Where we’re adding a house, we’re not necessarily adding to the population so much as we’re recovering population that’s been lost through changes in demographics over that time frame,” said city planner Kurtis Kowalke.

“A lot of our mature communities saw very little change; now, we’re seeing change… where there’s interest in infill. For many people, that’s a drastic change in the characteristics of their neighbourhoods from the way they remember it, whereas it was status quo for a long time.”– City planner Kurtis Kowalke

From 1971 to 2011, even as the city’s population grew by 129,000 and its footprint doubled, more than 88,000 people left mature communities — such as River Heights, Glenwood, all the pre-1950 neighbourhoods that surround downtown. Infill development can make use of existing infrastructure such as roads, sewers and Transit routes originally built for more people, Kowalke said.

In many older neighbourhoods, lots were originally set at 25-feet wide, but some homes were built on double lots. Such proposed lot splits bring concerned neighbours to city hall in opposition.

“A lot of our mature communities saw very little change; now, we’re seeing change… where there’s interest in infill,” Kowalke said. “For many people, that’s a drastic change in the characteristics of their neighbourhoods from the way they remember it, whereas it was status quo for a long time.”

Earlier this year, city planners had hoped to address some concerns by updating the rules for how much of a lot a new house is allowed to take up. But Kowalke said it was put on hold in favour of a complete overhaul.

After this round of consultations, the city will come up with proposed changes. Another round of consultations will follow before the new rules are developed by spring 2020.

“Change is already happening. This isn’t really a debate about infill or no infill, it’s really about how we do infill in a way that’s contextually appropriate and compatible with existing neighbourhood characteristics,” Kowalke said.

“And from the side of the builders, what they’re looking for is more predictability and certainty about what the city expects, so they go into the game knowing what sites are appropriate for infill and what that infill should look like.”

tvanderhart@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @tessavanderhart

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