Polo Park-area highrise plans nearing final decision

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This article was published 11/11/2019 (1624 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two proposals pushing for a massive highrise residential development in the Polo Park area gained support at city hall Tuesday — over the objections of the Winnipeg Airports Authority.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman and members of his executive policy committee (EPC) unanimously endorsed a plan to send the proposals to a public hearing. Council will consider the proposal at its meeting next week.

New residential development is prohibited in the area by a 1997 planning document designed to protect the airport’s 24-hour cargo business.

The authority, which operates Richardson International Airport, said it’s concerned an influx of area residents will eventually result in more complaints about air-traffic noise leading to flight-time restrictions.

Cadillac Fairview, which owns the Polo Park shopping centre, is seeking permission to develop an 80-acre parcel of land surrounding the mall (from Portage to St. Matthews avenues, and St. James and Empress streets) with a series of highrise residential towers.

There is a second, similar proposal for the west side of St. James that involves multiple partners who own 17 separate properties on 34 acres of land (most of them on the west side of St. James between Portage and just north of Ellice Avenue).

The EPC had put the proposals on hold the past two months to allow time for the developers and the airports authority to find a compromise. However, no common ground had been reached.

 

Tax credit takes next step

Coun. Ross Eadie’s proposal for financial help to owners of lower-valued homes has been referred to the 2020-23 budget process.

Members of the EPC unanimously endorsed the move Tuesday.

If approved, the plan would give owner-occupied homes assessed at $250,000 or less a $100 credit towards their annual municipal tax bill.

Eadie believes the tax credit would cost around $3 million annually, and could be paid for with a 0.5 per cent property-tax increase.

Eadie said a tax increase of that size would probably add an additional $10 or less to a lower-priced home, leaving the owner of the lower-priced home with $90.

 

Transit route redesign gets Ok from EPC

A sweeping change to the southwest transit route system has been unanimously endorsed by the EPC.

Winnipeg Transit is proposing to cancel 18 current routes, redraw 10 and introduce 14 new ones that will link the surrounding neighbourhoods into the new corridor when it opens for service in April.

Transit describes the changes as the backbone to its new “spine-and-feeder” service model, promising faster trips, more frequent service on individual routes and a reduction in the number of dreaded “pass-ups.”

EPC also approved a new post-secondary semester bus pass program that includes a one-time 17.4 per cent increase.

The plan, known as U-Pass, would extend the service to some students at Red River College, but student leaders at the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg said the fare hike would require a referendum on both campuses and fear it would be defeated.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca