City will end up back in court over Parker lands, developer’s lawyer predicts

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This article was published 13/05/2020 (1644 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The courts may have ordered the City of Winnipeg to take a second look at a local developer’s plans to building residential housing on the Parker lands, but the outcome will be the same next week if the public service gets its way.

At the May 21 meeting of the property and development committee, city councillors will vote on two proposals — one a secondary plan, the other a rezoning application — from developer Andrew Marquess, owner of Gem Equities Ltd.

Marquess has been in a lengthy battle to break ground on the Fulton Grove development at the Parker lands in Fort Garry. But those efforts have been marred by protests and land occupations, controversy over his acquisition of the land, lawsuits and repeated clashes with city planners.

In August 2019, a Court of Queen’s Bench judge ruled the city was in contempt of court for failing to process Marquess’s application as a “non-statutory (policy) plan.”

Following that ruling, the matter is set to go before a city committee next week, but the public service is once again requesting that councillors vote to reject the proposal.

City planners have long claimed the development — which would be built near the next leg of the southwest transit corridor — does not comply with zoning regulations for rapid-transit stations.

In the latest reports, city planners identified more than 200 issues with the proposals, “some of which are minor in nature, while others are more substantive.”

“The applicant (should) be permitted to amend the plan to address the issues and concerns outlined in this report, and any additional issues or concerns raised by the public service, without being required to submit a new application,” the report reads.

Dave Hill, one of Marquess’s lawyers, said if the city continues to conduct itself in the way it has up until this point, it will find itself back in court.

“I haven’t seen the latest reports, but it sounds very similar to the report they gave to the city centre community committee that led to the city being found in contempt of court. If it’s the same old, same old, then we’ve seen it already,” Hill said.

Hill said no judge can order how a political body — be it a committee or a council — should vote on a specific proposal, but nevertheless there are certain procedures which must be followed. So far, Hill said, the city has refused to follow them.

Despite the difficulties and roadblocks that have been thrown in his way, Hill said Marquess remains hopeful the Fulton Grove development will become a reality.

“This process started back in late 2013 and it took us up until 2018 to get a court to order that a community committee, the appropriate one, hear both applications. That order was flouted, which is what led us to the contempt of court ruling,” Hill said.

“One of the things you’re supposed to do in a contempt proceeding is purge your contempt. If all they’re going to do next week is follow the same process and advice, unfortunately, that’s not purging, and the city will still be in contempt.”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @rk_thorpe