For the second time in less than two years, Ritchot council denied the application of Kingdom HomeBuilding Inc. to rezone a plot of land in St. Adolphe for the purpose of constructing multifamily housing.
At the public meeting held on March 19, developer Luke Wiebe spoke in support of his request to rezone the property at the southwest corner of the community from commercial designation to RG8 (residential general 8000).
This is the third time Wiebe has approached council regarding zoning changes to his property located next to the new daycare and across from Tourond Creek.
Shortly after Wiebe’s purchase of the 2.8-acre property in 2021, council complied with Wiebe’s request to rezone the area from AL (agriculture limited) to CG (commercial general).
Wiebe’s stated goal, at the time, was to construct a professional centre with retail shops and, possibly, industrial spaces, depending on demand.
Wiebe never followed through with these plans.
Instead, in July 2023, Wiebe approached council again, this time with a request to rezone the property to an RG8 designation. A brand-new plan was presented, this time for 100 residential apartment units in two buildings. No commercial spaces appeared in the plan.
Residents turned up in large numbers for this meeting, most of them to cite concerns over losing one of the town last remaining Main Street lots to housing.
Many referred to the condo units at St. Adolphe’s core, which had been approved by a previous council years earlier. This move significantly reduced prime commercial real estate options along Main Street.
New Development Plan for 2025
All things considered, it appeared that Wiebe had been listening to resident and council concerns and was seeking a compromise. His newest proposal revolved around a mixed-use theme.
If approved, Wiebe would have been allowed to proceed with a plan for two multifamily residential complexes. The difference this time was that it included approximately 3,000 square feet of commercial space located at ground level in one of the two buildings.
This, he says, could accommodate anywhere from two to seven businesses. His vision included hair salons, dental offices, massage therapy services, or even a bakery and café.
There would have been no risk of this space being converted to residential down the road if he couldn’t find businesses to fill those spots.
“We will 100 percent commit a certain amount of main floor space to commercial,” Wiebe told council. “If they sit empty for a while, that’s my loss. So I’ll be motivated to provide good options. It’s actually a small enough portion of the entire investment that the residential aspect helps me have competitive rates on commercial space. At the end of the day, if these commercial spaces are full, all of my residential tenants will be happier there.”
As for the residential rental units, Wiebe assured council that there would be a variety of price points to meet different income levels as well as mobility-accessible units for aging residents.
Since Wiebe’s last proposal, there was another major change. With an Imperial Oil pipeline running through his property, he is required by the oil company to ensure that the land directly above the pipeline remains free and clear of obstructions such as buildings or pavement.
This essentially splits the property into two sections and prevents access to the more northerly building (phase two of the plan) without the creation of a second and separate highway access. This second access driveway would have needed to be approved by Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure.
When queried by council as to his intentions should MTI say no, Wiebe said that he’d be forced to forfeit his plan for a second residential complex and leave the area as greenspace.
Only phase one of the build would have been possible right away because highway access on one end already exists—and it’s phase one of Wiebe’s proposal that included the commercial spaces.
Residents Object
Similar to the 2023 public hearing, residents filled council chambers to weigh in. Eight of those in attendance stepped forward to relay their concerns. Two others chimed in virtually. A total of 13 letters of objection were received prior to the meeting.
For the second time around, Ron Rochon laid out for council many of the same concerns he’d shared in previous years.
“I think Luke’s building concept is great,” Rochon began. “The location is the issue.”
Because there is a residential aspect to Wiebe’s plan, he said, it would be better suited for the Tourond Creek development. He reiterated what so many residents were there to say.
“Historically, small communities thrive when their main streets are bustling with commerce,” Rochon told council. “Unfortunately, past decisions to rezone commercial properties to residential have crippled our Main Street business potential.”
Others stepped forward too, looking at issues related to traffic congestion if higher-density housing were allowed. Others worried how the additional housing would affect schools and daycares, which are already at capacity.
Still others believed that, if this housing were allowed, its focus should be on keeping seniors in the community.
“I don’t think we have a long-range vision,” one resident told council. “I think we should really find ways to keep our people in town, otherwise we are just a bedroom community.”
Councillor Joel Lemoine said that the community has been invited into the conversation of St. Adolphe’s development plan on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, he added, commercial properties were lost to residential development despite those well-laid plans.
“We’ve got to stick to our guns when the community gets together and says, ‘We need space for residential, commercial, industrial, or whatnot,’” Lemoine said.
Tourond Creek developer Brandon Powell joined the meeting virtually to point out that gaining MTI approval for a second access point may be overly optimistic.
“When I saw [Wiebe’s] site plan, I saw the multiple access points and, in my experience, those have been challenging to deal with when it comes to MTI,” Powell said, “just because they want to reduce potential for traffic conflicts.”
Prior to council’s deliberation, Wiebe returned to the podium for a final rebuttal. In his opinion, he has worked hard to comply with whatever council and the community has asked for. To reject residential housing here, he said, is simply unreasonable because it’s the backbone by which commercial space is possible.
“Why has somebody not contacted me asking for… commercial [space] in the last couple of years?” Wiebe asked. “I’ve owned the property for four years and nobody asked me, ‘Hey, could we consider building a business there?’”
Decision
Council closed public input to enter debate. Councillor Jason Bodnarchuk admitted to struggling with the idea of residential housing here and worried about traffic congestion.
Councillor Shane Pelletier disagreed in part, pointing out that a gas station or grocery store on this site could result in the same traffic flows or worse. He added that it would be difficult to accommodate a large business on this lot due to the pipeline that runs down the centre of it.
While some of Mayor Chris Ewen’s concerns had been allayed through assurances that the commercial designations would not be lost to residential, he also struggled with the decision.
“There’s something in my mind that’s telling me that we should go with this,” Ewen told council. “I think there’s some business opportunity here. Maybe we can designate more than 30 percent of the space [to commercial]… but that’s part of the planning agreement. It’s not something we’d do here.”
Still, when put to a vote, council voted unanimously in favour of defeating the application as proposed.
