At the appeal hearing on Monday, eight of us spoke against the appeal of a 145' building at 127 Bannatyne Ave. The developer, architect and one supporter spoke in favour of the height. After two hours of presentations and discussions, Councillor Vivian Santos moved to grant the appeal BUT with the condition that the building be no more than 110 feet. A WIN!
I want to thank those who joined me at the meeting via Zoom: Penny McMillan, Cindy Tugwell (Heritage Winnipeg),Jarrid McKitrick, Jenny O’Connor, Fausto Pereira, Laurie Nealin and Tanya Bashura. These people gave up a few hours to have their voices heard, and they were definitely heard!
Outstanding Support from the Community
During my presentation, the councillors flipped through electronic copies of emails from 139 people who opposed the 12 story height of the building. I told them I had received another 21 on the weekend for an amazing 160 people (mostly residents; all voters!) who voiced their opposition in just the last 10 days.
I want to especially thank the 160+ people that took time to send me emails voicing their often passionate opposition to a 145’ building in the Exchange District. It is reassuring to see how the Residents of the Exchange District came together as a community.
Will the Building be Built?
During the hearing, the architect announced a revised plan to build at 134 feet (they eliminated the party floor). It was discussed that a marginal increase over the 100’ limit would be allowed, and 110’ had been offered to the developer before they submitted their plans, but at the hearing, they were steadfast on the 134’. The architect even suggested that a 34% increase over the limit would hardly be noticeable by people on the street!
Will they build? At the hearing the developer said “at 110’, that equates to a loss of 3 floors, the project will not go ahead.” Time will tell.
Want to Watch the Hearing?
If you are Covid-bored, you could watch the video of the hearing. It can be viewed on the City of Winnipeg YouTube channel. It will be the “Property and Development, Heritage and Downtown Development - 2021 04 19." Our portion starts about 2 minutes after the meeting starts.
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