After years of debate, Parker lands development clears initial hurdle at Winnipeg city hall

A major development project on Winnipeg's Parker lands passed its first hearing at city hallafter more than a decade of debate and legal challenges.

After hours of discussion on Thursday, the city centre committee voted unanimously in favour the project, officially named Fulton Grove.

City staff had raised concerns over how close the proposed development would be to the CNR Rivers rail line. According to guidelines from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, buildings should be no closer than approximately 100 feet (30 metres) from the property line adjacent to the railway.

Developer Andrew Marquess said staff added that requirementat the last minute, and argued it would have significantly reduced the number of units that could be built.

Marquess said the city should measure the distancefrom the southernmost track of the CNR Rivers railway, rather than the property line, which Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) and Coun. John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) agreed to.

Coun. Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) was absent.

The committee approved Marquess's request to rezone 19 hectares of land inFort Garry between the Southwest Transitway and the railway. The plan calls for1,918 units across a mix of building types, including apartment towers closer to the transit corridoron the east side, and townhouses, triplexes, duplexes and single-family homes on the west side.

The Parker lands development has been the subject of contentious debate at city hall for years, with Marquess repeatedly accusing city staff and Orlikow of deliberately stalling the project.

Marquess, who acquired the land from the city as part of a land swap in 2009, has spent the past 11 years trying to get city council to approve his development plans.

In 2018, a judge ordered the cityto hold hearings on the Fulton Grove development. In a separate case in 2023, a judge determined two city officials had engaged in misfeasance by holding backthe development and ordered the city to pay Marquess $5 million.

An appeal hearing on that decision is set for April 10.

The project now moves on to the property and development committee meeting later this month, then the executive policy committee and, finally, council.