The City’s proposed Residential Infill Strategy has been an animating concern for our group. Drafts of the strategy went to the City’s Property and Development Committee in January with worrying language that could clamp down on infill. Lot coverage requirements that include the presumption of a garage are a major cause for concern.
The City of Winnipeg intends for a new round of public consultations in spring or summer 2019 on the Strategy. Past consultations, which flew under the radar of many urbanists, occurred in 2017 and 2018. There, people with concerns about “long, tall and skinny” houses and parking dominated the discussion and organized to push for a more restrictive strategy.
The new round of consultations represents an opportunity for those who support mixed-use density to have their say. We can use consultations to push for a positive agenda of reforms that will support the type of infill we want.
This, however, takes conceptual work. We can certainly push back against some of the language in the draft Residential Infill Strategy that’s harmful to mixed-use density, but we need a positive agenda.
This is why I am looking for volunteers for a working group on the Residential Infill Strategy. Our goal would be to review the strategy and come up with positive alternatives that YIMBY Winnipeg supporters can advocate for in the new round of consultations.
The objective would be to have concrete and understandable suggestions that are tied to our core vision and values of sustainability and affordability.
We would have to arrange a meeting place and time amongst ourselves.
If you’re interested, please reply.
Best regards,
Dylon Martin
Interim Spokesperson
YIMBY Winnipeg