NORTH Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty said Winnipeg is poised to make "serious money" from the sale of a big chunk of city-owned property in West St. Paul.
On Tuesday, council's property and development committee voted in favour of a plan to market and sell North Perimeter Park, an 18-hectare plot of prime riverfront land the city has owned since 1971. The land is located on Main Street just south of the Perimeter Highway interchange.
The plan still has to be approved by executive policy committee and city council.
The sale of North Perimeter Park was initially put on hold last year when councillors raised concern about the implications of extending water and sewer services to neighbouring municipalities.
Browaty said it's a good time to sell the land, since city council has approved a policy to extend water and sewer services to West St. Paul. In December, council gave CAO Phil Sheegl the authority to finalize the service-sharing agreement with West St. Paul. The deal has not been finalized, but the sale of the land would be subject to the final agreement.
City staff would not speculate how much Winnipeg could receive from interested buyers, but said the land is already worth more due to the pending water-sewer deal with West St. Paul. Browaty said Winnipeg rarely sells such a big plot of land and that it will likely net a large amount of money for the city.
"Now it makes a lot more sense to sell because even though it's raw, vacant land you have the certainty that this is basically ready to develop," Browaty said. "The pipes still have to go in the ground but the guarantee is they will go in the ground."
"It should net some serious money."
Winnipeg's new service-sharing policy says new residential properties will pay a one-time fee of $3,000 to connect to city pipes. The ongoing fee will be $200 per home per year.
Lynne Fernandez, a researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said her organization worries extending water and sewer services works against some of Winnipeg's existing planning policies that focus on density and rapid transit. Fernandez said most of the people who live in bedroom communities commute to Winnipeg, but do not pay for the upkeep of city infrastructure since they do not pay municipal taxes.
She said encouraging more people to move outside city limits in effect gives people a "free ride."
"We really do see that as a dangerous sort of move towards expanding on the city's environmental footprint and a cue that they're saying it's OK to have urban sprawl," Fernandez said.
Browaty said the city is not giving West St. Paul a break, since there are connection fees and the rural municipality will be on the hook to deliver the service.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
Opposition rules
Other things that happened at city hall on Tuesday:
Apartment plan nixed: A developer has withdrawn an application to build a 92-unit apartment building following significant opposition from Whyte Ridge residents. PreCon Builders wanted to build the proposed block on an empty field on McGillivray Boulevard near Costco. City administration recommended it be approved, but the Assiniboia community committee did not agree. More than 600 residents voiced their opposition to the project, and on Tuesday, property chairman Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) announced the developer withdrew the application.
On Tuesday, council's property and development committee voted in favour of a plan to market and sell North Perimeter Park, an 18-hectare plot of prime riverfront land the city has owned since 1971. The land is located on Main Street just south of the Perimeter Highway interchange.
The plan still has to be approved by executive policy committee and city council.
The sale of North Perimeter Park was initially put on hold last year when councillors raised concern about the implications of extending water and sewer services to neighbouring municipalities.
Browaty said it's a good time to sell the land, since city council has approved a policy to extend water and sewer services to West St. Paul. In December, council gave CAO Phil Sheegl the authority to finalize the service-sharing agreement with West St. Paul. The deal has not been finalized, but the sale of the land would be subject to the final agreement.
City staff would not speculate how much Winnipeg could receive from interested buyers, but said the land is already worth more due to the pending water-sewer deal with West St. Paul. Browaty said Winnipeg rarely sells such a big plot of land and that it will likely net a large amount of money for the city.
"Now it makes a lot more sense to sell because even though it's raw, vacant land you have the certainty that this is basically ready to develop," Browaty said. "The pipes still have to go in the ground but the guarantee is they will go in the ground."
"It should net some serious money."
Winnipeg's new service-sharing policy says new residential properties will pay a one-time fee of $3,000 to connect to city pipes. The ongoing fee will be $200 per home per year.
Lynne Fernandez, a researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said her organization worries extending water and sewer services works against some of Winnipeg's existing planning policies that focus on density and rapid transit. Fernandez said most of the people who live in bedroom communities commute to Winnipeg, but do not pay for the upkeep of city infrastructure since they do not pay municipal taxes.
She said encouraging more people to move outside city limits in effect gives people a "free ride."
"We really do see that as a dangerous sort of move towards expanding on the city's environmental footprint and a cue that they're saying it's OK to have urban sprawl," Fernandez said.
Browaty said the city is not giving West St. Paul a break, since there are connection fees and the rural municipality will be on the hook to deliver the service.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
Opposition rules
Other things that happened at city hall on Tuesday:
Apartment plan nixed: A developer has withdrawn an application to build a 92-unit apartment building following significant opposition from Whyte Ridge residents. PreCon Builders wanted to build the proposed block on an empty field on McGillivray Boulevard near Costco. City administration recommended it be approved, but the Assiniboia community committee did not agree. More than 600 residents voiced their opposition to the project, and on Tuesday, property chairman Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) announced the developer withdrew the application.
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