Delayed snow dump site development back on horizon

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This article was published 15/11/2022 (771 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg snow dump site could soon be one step closer to redevelopment after years of delay.

In 2014, council’s property and development committee voted to sell the Kenaston snow dump to Caspian Construction for $5.2 million. The property covers 12.9 acres of land south of 1301 Kenaston Blvd.

At the time, the site was deemed a desirable piece of land that the city could make better use of, due to the rising value of commercial property surrounding it.

“It’s a highly developing area, and when the land was sold, it was determined that (Caspian Construction was) the highest bidder,” Coun. Janice Lukes said Tuesday.

In September 2016, however, the sale was cancelled and the city returned the deposit because the two sides couldn’t agree on how best to rezone it, Lukes said.

Caspian then launched a legal challenge to overturn the sale cancellation and prevent the city from marketing the site again, she said.

Development was delayed as that challenge continued.

A settlement was reached in June and requires the city to complete the rezoning process and fulfil the original sale, Lukes said.

The site still operates as a snow dump, which the city still owns at this point, city spokesman Kalen Qually said in an emailed statement.

Lukes said the Kenaston site accounts for only a small portion of the city’s overall snow disposal, despite the massive amount of snow dumped there — which can sometimes take until summer to melt.

“(It) is mind-boggling (it’s just part of the snow) when you think of that mountain, with the size of it,” she said.

The city’s website lists three other snow-disposal sites; Kenaston will be replaced with a second site at the West End sewage treatment plant, Qually said.

“Public works does not anticipate any impact to the overall capacity of its snow-disposal sites this winter,” he said.

A new proposal to zone the land as “manufacturing mixed use” will be discussed at the Nov. 21 meeting of the Assiniboia community committee. That change, which would require full council approval, would allow compatible commercial and industrial development, such as offices, wholesale businesses and business parks, according to the city’s zoning bylaw.

The report notes the site currently has no zoning designation as it forms part of an open right-of-way. No plans for a new development are noted.

Caspian Construction could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The dispute was the second between Caspian and the city. In 2020, the city filed a statement of claim that alleges a fraudulent ‘scheme’ inflated the price of the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project, which listed the construction company among dozens of other defendants.

The WPS HQ opened in 2016, with a cost of about $214 million, well above its original $135 million price tag.

That matter remains before the courts.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga