Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 28, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS CAN SAVE ENERGY & MONEY GET IN TOUCH TO START SAVING efficiencyMB.ca/smallbusiness JOURNEY OF HOPE Join Us in Making a Difference. Celebrating victories over addiction. APRIL 18, 2024 Fort Garry Hotel Purchase your tickets www.teenchallenge.tc THURSDAY MARCH 28, 2024 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SECTION B CONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE ▼ CITY ● BUSINESS City planners now recommending approval of huge housing development with conditions Parker lands project could get go-ahead A LONG-DELAYED major housing development that sparked a legal battle with the city may finally move ahead, a decade after it was first proposed, putting an end to a process some deem an “embarrassment” for Winnipeg. City planners now recommend appli- cations for Gem Equities’ proposal to create 1,918 new dwelling units at the former Parker lands be approved with conditions. Developer Andrew Marquess ex- pressed hope the substantial new Ful- ton Grove project will soon be one ma- jor step closer to construction. “It’s an infill site, first and foremost, next to a (more than) half-billion-dollar investment in rapid transit… It allows for the opportunity to build a signifi- cant amount of apartment units at a time when vacancy is low and rents are rising,” said Marquess. Last year, a judge found one former and one current city planner liable for “misfeasance in public office” and deemed the City of Winnipeg to be vicariously liable for delaying the ma- jor construction project. The judge ordered the city to pay $5 million in damages to the developer, noting Gem submitted a draft secondary plan back in spring 2014. The city is appealing that ruling. In a letter to Winnipeg’s mayor and council that was published with the development applications, Marquess called out the alleged city stalling. “This project has been historically contentious due to the actions of the (city) administration and has been a lo- cal issue but it has now drawn national attention,” he wrote, noting the federal Conservative party recently used the process as an example of bureaucratic obstacles to building more housing. Marquess is urging council to ap- prove the project now. “We cannot allow this project to be approved at the council level and then get mired in bureaucracy and personal politics resulting in no housing being built,” he added. Marquess told the Free Press many of the conditions the city seeks to impose on the project are minor but he is con- cerned a call for larger setbacks from rail lines could force a “significant re- duction” in the number of housing units that can be built. “We’ve only been at this a decade, so it’s interesting that this has popped up now when it hadn’t been an issue be- fore,” he said. Coun. Janice Lukes, the city’s deputy mayor, said she was still reviewing the report Wednesday. “I hope to heck that we can figure this out and get it done because it’s, in my opinion, gone on far too long and decisions need to be made.… We need housing, it’s by a rapid transit corridor. (With) new leadership, surely, we can figure this out,” said Lukes. The Waverley West councillor said the city has suffered “national em- barrassment” over the file and would benefit from the housing units and tax dollars a development this size would produce. “It’s tax dollars and it is housing. And the fact of the matter is we… put in this $600-million rapid transit corridor (right next to this development site). We need to optimize it,” said Lukes. JOYANNE PURSAGA ● PARKER, CONTINUED ON B2 WPS photo radar units set up in construction zone Speeders pinched on Perimeter cry foul SPEEDING fines of up to $1,412 have been handed out since Winnipeg police started using mobile photo radar in a massive construction zone on the south Perimeter Highway — possibly for the first time — but opponents are crying foul. Since March 15, mobile units have been set up east and west of St. Mary’s Road, where crews are building an interchange, to catch drivers who dis- obey the designated work zone’s speed limit, which is usually 80 km/h. “The ultimate goal is to get people to slow down,” said Insp. Marc Phil- ippot, who oversees the Winnipeg Po- lice Service photo radar program. “The message is simple: abide by the posted speed limit and avoid a violation.” Philippot said he didn’t yet have the total number of tickets that had been issued. The highest speed recorded to date was 132 km/h, resulting in a $1,412 fine. “That is a significant speed, even if there wasn’t construction and you had a posted limit of 100 km/h,” said Phil- ippot. “At those speeds, obviously, the consequences won’t be very forgiving.” Fines are doubled in designated con- struction zones. Philippot said the WPS received com- plaints about excessive and dangerous speeds, which put workers and driv- ers at risk, before photo radar vehicles were deployed. Winnipeg police had shared its plans for photo radar via social media. “We’re trying to be proactive, rather than reactive,” he said. While the Perimeter is a provincial highway and the RCMP is its primary enforcer of traffic laws, the Winnipeg Police Service has the lawful author- ity to use photo enforcement in the zone, because it is within city limits and meets all the requirements of im- age-capturing enforcement regula- tions, said Philippot. To his knowledge, it is the first time mobile photo radar has been used on the Perimeter. Winnipeg’s most vocal photo radar opponents are trying to mobilize a chal- lenge in a bid to get tickets quashed. Todd Dube, co-founder of Wise Up Winnipeg, disputed the WPS’s claim of lawful authority on the basis of jurisdic- tion. “We’ve heard from a number of people who’ve decided they are going to plead not guilty and wait for a trial to come,” he said. “We’re looking forward to challenging it.” Philippot said people have the right to dispute a ticket, but provincial legis- lation is clear, and road signs that give advance warning of the construction zone are “plentiful.” The WPS will soon take over from the RCMP and become the primary enfor- cer of traffic laws on the southern half of the Perimeter Highway. The tenta- tive start date is May 1, said Philippot. Cole Lagasse, who lives east of Win- nipeg, was ticketed for speeding on March 16 and 18, when he didn’t know photo radar was in use. The fines — for speeds of 93 km/h and 96 km/h — total $860. He intends to plead not guilty. “I think it’s pretty unfair, because there are no signs or anything saying there is photo enforcement,” he said. “I was following the flow of traffic. “It’s dangerous to slow down while in the flow of traffic, because people whipping past me doesn’t interest me.” No work was taking place where photo radar was set up, said Lagasse. Earlier this week, Dube held up a sign that read, “$low down — photo enforce- ment ahead,” to warn drivers as they approached the construction zone. He said photo radar vehicles park near the entrances of the zone, far away from workers or actual work activity. Dube said the zone is a “lucrative” site for photo radar, which he claims is purely a “cash grab.” Philippot disagrees with people who hold that view of the program. “I look at it as we’re just trying to reduce speeds here as best we can,” he said. “If it brings down the speed and that keeps people safe, that’s the ultim- ate goal here.” Last year, photo radar vehicles that were set up south of the Perimeter on St. Mary’s Road sparked complaints from drivers, who said the units were far from actual construction work. Dube said one ticket was thrown out in court, after the recipient successful- ly argued photo radar units were not set up within a construction zone, and a second case was stayed. CHRIS KITCHING BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS Todd Dube of Wise Up Winnipeg holds a sign alerting drivers to the Winnipeg Police Service using photo radar in the construction zone on the south Perimeter Highway. ● RADAR, CONTINUED ON B2 ;