YIMBY Winnipeg

Today is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
This day honours and remembers the children who were forced into Canada's Residential School system.
It was first observed as Orange Shirt Day in 2013 and was elevated to a statutory holidy for federal workers in 2021.

PP&D meeting in paragraph form:

www.yesinwpg.com/2025/09/upda...

NEW: Property & Development Committee DELAYS proposal for supportive homes MONTHS

www.yesinwpg.com/2025/09/upda...

Peak Winnipeg Council Brain. We shouldn’t apply pressure on our own wound because someone with more resources should be doing it instead (never mind whether they get there before we bleed out)

Delays rezoning for supportive homes until November 6th, delaying the projects months.

Looks like the PP&D committee is going to adjourn the public hearing (i.e. delay the process of developing supportive housing two months and skip out on everyone waiting in the Council gallery and Zoom room to delegate).

Chair Duncan is leaning to adjournment, i.e. skipping out on the delegations and hearing back in months.

Chair Duncan wants the Province to come back with detailed outline of how many occupants of each site are using each service (i.e. counselling).

Councillor Wyatt goes on railing against Province, adds "I'm a supporter of Wab's".

Civil Servant notes the PP&D rezoning should consider use, not user. Notes that when the real estate branch comes back for deposition and programmatic decisions, that will examined.

Civil Servant notes the turnaround for external appraisals is six to eight weeks.

Other Civil Servant notes that due to provincial process, it will likely take longer. Probably 3 months.

PP&D Committee Chair Duncan musing about delaying until late October.

Real risk the PP&D Committee is going to stall supportive housing, delaying everything months.

Councillor Wyatt moves motion to adjourn (i.e. not hearing everyone signed up for the public hearing) to "get more information".

Councillor Santos asks if the City adorned for a month could the Civil Service get the land values. Civil Servant notes there's no way to way to get those appraisal in 30 days, maybe 60 days.

Wyatt says as Board of Directors for a Corporation, Council must act to get the highest and best use of the land. Wants to sell the land for highest and best use.

Wyatt says the City is "ultimately not a level of government, but a corporation". Says City has "assets and liabilities". One of the assets is land, he adds.

Councillor Duncan is suggesting Property & Planning Committee adorn and come back at a later time regarding rezoning for supportive homes.

Councillor Wyatt claims the highest and best use on Plessis is not supportive homes. Muses that a strip mall could generate more revenue.

Civil Servant notes the city did rough estimations on value of property. In total, all five sites amount to $1.1 million.

Wyatt claims we "probably shouldn't" help out the Province on social housing. "They have more money", he insists.

Wyatt wants an independent evaluation and appraisal of the City-owned properties for sale on the private market & highest and best use.

Thinks City could get more money selling the city-owned land at the proposed sites.

Civil Servant notes that Council will have to approve the sale or lease of City-owned lands, which will include the selection of non-profit operators for the social homes.

Councillor Evans asking about the value of the possibility of adjourning and asking the Prov to give a bunch of details about each proposed social housing site.

Wyatt's mad about City doing stuff on social housing, as it's not the City's mandate. He thinks the Prov & Feds should be doing more.

FYI, the City rezoning initiative is occurring out of an office funded by the federal HAF & the Province will fund the bulk of the operations for Supportive Homes.

Recall Councillor Wyatt criticized the Housing Accelerator Fund as not including deeply affordable housing, but seems very critical of both this proposal for supportive homes & the proposed redevelopment of a City-owned surface parking lot on Granite that would be 30% rent-geared-to-income homes.

Councillor Wyatt is also mad that the City's Civil Servant is the applicant for rezoning. Claims they City shouldn't be putting in all these resources for a Provincial initiative.

(FYI, the Province is going to be the primary funder for operations at these Supportive Homes)

Councillor Russ Wyatt railing at Supportive Housing re-zoning because of "scale". He thinks these 15-25 unit supportive homes are "too big" for the predominantly single family house neighbourhoods some are set for. This despite generous 20 foot side yards.

To be clear, we aren't building them... We are rezoning and contributing the land for the Province to build them, likely with the help of a development partner. Winnipeg, MB and supportive housing:

The Public Hearing Registration Form:

legacy.winnipeg.ca/shared/mailf...