The RM of Ritchot’s council met for their monthly evening council meeting with a great deal of business on the agenda.
 

Council began by adopting the minutes from the previous public meeting, which included details on the community projects receiving provincial funding from the Building Sustainable Communities Program.

Those projects included the installation of an equipment garage at Cartier Park, the development of the second phase of the Belle Riviere Park in Ste. Agathe, door upgrades to the Ste. Agathe Arena, kitchen upgrades at Club Amical in St. Adolphe, a clubhouse for the Grande Pointe Homeowners Association, a Wildlife Haven amphitheatre and equipment for the education centre, and a canopy and commercial kitchen equipment for the TransCanada Centre in Île-des-Chênes.

One application for a side yard variation was reviewed for 55 Gagnon Drive in St. Adolphe. Council approved the application subject to conditions.

Rocky Ridge Ventures

Paul Warkentin of Rocky Ridge Ventures attended the meeting to represent his application to council for a conditional use permit that would allow multi-use zoning in an industrial agricultural zone at the location of 618 Discovery Drive in Grande Pointe.

Warkentin’s proposal includes the construction of four 6,000-square-foot buildings that will service a maximum of 12 businesses on the site.

Warkentin told council that the proposal will mirror his previous development at 610 Discovery Drive. He indicates that all 12 units from the first development have been filled with small businesses moving outside of Winnipeg’s city limits. Each new business has also provided needed employment to the area. The proposal was accepted subject to conditions.

Tourond Creek Lot Rezoning

Council also gave first reading to an amendment bylaw which would allow a rezoning of lot one in the Tourond Creek development to go from commercial general to residential general. A first reading is required to take the proposal to a public hearing in the future.

Council voted in favour of the first reading. A public hearing will be announced soon.

“I think there’s slight changes [to the proposal] plus there’s been a lot more due diligence done on [the Tourond Creek developers’] behalf, reaching out to the community, from my understanding,” said Mayor Chris Ewen. “But it is essentially the same zoning change [they requested before], but with a different plan after the zoning change has been done.”

Grande Pointe Development

Council gave second and final reading to an amendment to the Grande Pointe Secondary Plan, which considers the overall development of the community. The amendment would allow for the inclusion of compact rural residential development in a portion of Grande Pointe.

A representative of North Grassie Properties was present to appeal to council regarding the proposed initiative.

“The objective of this is to change a… location within the area of Grande Pointe to allow for a bungalow condominium development adjacent to the Grande Pointe industrial development as a buffer between the commercial use and residential use to the south in Grande Pointe Meadows,” she said. “The amendment is the first step in the development of a condominium… which would bring 102 units to the development which is an increase from the 25 single-family homes.”

The representative added that a Grande Pointe community information meeting had been held and surveys went out to all residents. About 20 people attended the meeting and eight surveys were returned to the developer. Survey results indicated either strong support or a neutral position on the matter. The same number were strongly supportive or neutral on the introduction of a seniors-focused development.

“The objective is to have some age-in-place and variety of housing for the Grande Pointe Meadows area,” she added.

Paul Warkentin of the neighbouring commercial development area spoke in favour of the proposal, suggesting that the idea is a smart one, providing different needs for a different market.

Norm Boyle, also of North Grassie Properties, approached council to back the project. He felt that a project like this would allow aging seniors to stay in the community longer while younger families move in and buy the larger lot homes, creating a regenerative effect in the community.

One Grande Pointe resident was in attendance to oppose the project, citing that the community is not the right location for seniors who need to be located nearer to amenities such as grocery stores and a doctor’s office.

Two emails were received, also opposing the project, since it contradicts the original large-lot model of the area.

“Time and time again, we as residents of Grande Pointe have expressed that we are a community with country living and are not in favour of city-sized lots,” said one resident. “We have been promised by multiple sources… that the residential lots being built in Grande Pointe will be large but there always seems to be a push to make them smaller or bring in multi-family properties which I and many other people in the community are against… It would be a slippery slope for other areas in Grande Pointe trying to push higher density and the only reason would be a money grab.”

Councillor Boulanger, a resident of Grande Pointe, says that she’s had discussions with many residents of the area and found that most seem to be in favour of the proposal. One concern that they do share is the question of how higher-density housing will affect traffic levels in the community.

Council voted unanimously in favour of the proposal to amend the Grande Pointe Secondary Plan.

Other Business

Council also voted in favour of accepting resolutions of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) to lobby the provincial government for a review of its processes on licensing rural composting stations, of which Ritchot currently has none.

A second request by the AMM will be to eliminate the use of single-use plastic bags across the province.

“This is something that I’m familiar with, sitting on the South Quadrant Waste Management group,” Mayor Ewen told council. “I really feel like [the elimination of plastic bag use] is something that needs to be done, even if it starts with just us and spreads out.”

Finally, council reviewed a request by Amarjeet Sahota to operate a taxi service in and around the area of Ile-des-Chenes. Council voted in favour of the request.