Winnipeg Construction X

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by trueviking

ha ha...it was totally....she googled it sitting there and obviously misread length for width.

does no one get to counter her claims or does everyone sit silent as they think these councilors are the Queen, i mean King?

[trueviking]

not really...the planner tried to interject about the truck width but just got talked over....the public works person just got steamrolled after telling them the mathematical calculations on how their arrived at their decision.

When Klein asked how do they turn around and clear the lane of snow the public works person said when they clear back lanes they just go straight...they dont clear each driveway and its up to the homeowner to clear the edge....he was shocked by that and made it seem like this was some kind of crazy exception they were making....like every lane in the city is like that.

they were both taking about back lanes like they are some kind of exotic animal....how are people ever supposed to pass each other? its 3 feet wider than a normal lane....three feet wider than a typical two-way drive aisle in an parking lot....it all fine.

[blueandgoldguy]

Sounds like postmodernism run amock on city council. Decisions based on feelings of the council rather than the evidence provided be the actual experts.

[zalf]

Originally Posted by trueviking

not really...the planner tried to interject about the truck width but just got talked over....the public works person just got steamrolled after telling them the mathematical calculations on how their arrived at their decision.

Council needs a Talking Pillow they can pass around. Or if not that, then some sort of designated position who can chair the meetings and control who is speaking. Some kind of Speaker or Chair, you might call such a person.

Originally Posted by trueviking

When Klein asked how do they turn around and clear the lane of snow the public works person said when they clear back lanes they just go straight...they dont clear each driveway and its up to the homeowner to clear the edge....he was shocked by that and made it seem like this was some kind of crazy exception they were making....like every lane in the city is like that.

Not even just back lanes. I have cleared many a windrow from my parents' front driveway.

Originally Posted by trueviking

they were both taking about back lanes like they are some kind of exotic animal....how are people ever supposed to pass each other? its 3 feet wider than a normal lane....three feet wider than a typical two-way drive aisle in an parking lot....it all fine.

This may be a product of them representing Waverley West and Charleswood. Not exactly bastions of grid layout and back lanes.

[bomberjet]

If it likes my back lane. 5 mins after the snow plow goes by, certain neighbours have pushed the windrow and associated ice chunks back out in the lane. Too bad for the oil pan on your Honda Civic.

So the public service didn't want front drive. Then council wants front drive. What a bunch of idiots. I can't stand Lukes and Klein.

[MB204]

Originally Posted by trueviking

i know I complained about this a page back but seriously this is a big part of the problem. Why would anyone build infill when this happens.

Small infill housing project proposed for a vacant lot on Grosvenor near Lilac. Developer submitted a pre-application with a front driveway. Planning department and Public Works rejected it saying it violates the Neighbourhood Plan and required that it be accessed from the back lane. They completely redesigned it, working with planning to make sure it it fulfilled the area requirements. The proposal was approved and supported in every way by planning, public works, emergency services etc. The Director of Planning, Property and Development approved it. Resident's appealed.

Councillors rejected it because they didn't like access from the lane. Lukes spent 15 minutes harping on the lane being too narrow because an F150 is apparently 17 feet wide and the lane is 23 feet wide. An F150 is only seven feet wide. Most vehicle lanes are 10-11 feet wide. Klein was insistent that a fire truck couldn't get to it despite being reviewed and approved by emergency services. He said. Oh they always approve it. Then he said there's no way to clear snow from the lane but it's been there for 100 years and gets cleared every winter. They were making no changes to the current conditions of the lane. The lane is newly paved and wider than most. They demanded to talk to public works and then tore them apart with opinion after being provided with factual information and engineering calculations to back up their approvals. Klein even questioned who wrote public works standards. John Orlikow even made an appearance as a registered speaker to complain about the project.

It was non sensical. Lukes told them they need to go back to their front drive proposal despite it being completely against the approved neighbourhood plan. Against everything the planning department told them to do. It would destroy the building and the street. She even suggested they do a building on stilts with a nice metal lattice hiding it from the sidewalk instead of having homes at the ground floor.

How can developers possibly want to do infill if they do everything planning and public works wants only to be shut down months into the process by the whims of councillors who know nothing about the neighbourhood and openly disregard the approved neighbourhood plan. It's incredible. How do they have this power? How can they reject a project based on nonsensical arguments like there's no room for 17 foot wide trucks or that they can't clear snow on a street they clear every year?! Is it coincidence that the back lane is behind Crescentwood mansions on Ruskin Row?


https://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/dmis/Vie...8&isMobile=yes

Only 2 residences and Orlikow spoke -- Note that 4 people were from the same house.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Hecate

Canadians have never been more ripped off by their governments and the public servants…. And you think people are selfish for being sick of paying over half their incomes in taxes. Money that’s wasted frivolously by corrupt inept politicians. You must have a government job.

more ad hominem. bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch

[borkborkbork]

Lukes puzzles me. Sometimes she's this surprisingly forward thinking urbanist for someone in a generally sprawly ward. But then she'll also show up in ways like this, fighting against the owners of the c-store that was burned down in the village, etc. I can't get a read on what kind of leader she wants to be.

[wags_in_the_peg]

appears the church conversion to 8 suites has ran out of $. conceptual drawing look nice.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...treet-winnipeg

[drew]

^ thank goodness they didn't get to the point of destroying that brick exterior by painting it, along with that faux timber truss nonsense.

Just bad.

[1ajs]

17yrs since there was a pile of dirt where sky sits down covered in prarie plants7

[post_man]

Originally Posted by drew

^ thank goodness they didn't get to the point of destroying that brick exterior by painting it, along with that faux timber truss nonsense.

Just bad.

Thought the same thing. What's depicted in the rendering is horrible. Looks like someone gave up halfway through building a The Cheesecake Factory.

[wags_in_the_peg]

^^ I disagree, but each their own opinion! I look at it 8 newer rental units not coming to market in an area that can use them.

[drew]

I also just noticed that the render shows them squaring off the curved windows.

Bad all around.

[WildCake]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

^^ I disagree, but each their own opinion! I look at it 8 newer rental units not coming to market in an area that can use them.

Can you not have a renovation of the church to add 8 rental units that doesn't involve drastic modification (read: make it look like crap) of the exterior?

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by WildCake

Can you not have a renovation of the church to add 8 rental units that doesn't involve drastic modification (read: make it look like crap) of the exterior?

again, not all think it looks like crap. do you know the cost of arched windows vs rectangular? it's drastic. do you know the cost to insulated properly and re-do all the brick vs modifying the exterior to something other than brick? it's drastic. not every project can be another Fortune block re-creation. If you have deep enough pockets go for it.

[esquire]

I agree that it's ugly but this is a real 'beggars can't be choosers' scenario. The location is not exactly the most marketable.

Wasn't that building a biker gang clubhouse at one point?

[drew]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

again, not all think it looks like crap. do you know the cost of arched windows vs rectangular? it's drastic. do you know the cost to insulated properly and re-do all the brick vs modifying the exterior to something other than brick? it's drastic. not every project can be another Fortune block re-creation. If you have deep enough pockets go for it.

If that's the argument, then this developer should just go and build an OSB 8-plex on a piece of vacant land somewhere.

The beauty of a brick exterior is that you don't do anything to it besides repointing and repairs as necessary (which BTW are required regardless of whether it gets painted, covered, etc.).

If you need to insulate, do it from the interior. Or even better, don't - the wall will last longer and the efficiency gains are minor. Just leave it bare. Concentrate your insulation efforts on the foundation and roof.

The arched window thing sucks, but again - don't try to make an otherwise elegant structure into a random stucco box. There are several examples of churches to residential conversions in the central areas of Winnipeg that prove you don't need to destroy this types of features - unless you are lazy or cheap, or possibly both.

[zalf]

Though not a church, this old fire hall in Crescentwood is similar enough to be a good comparison. Definitely a residential conversion done right.

I do recognize the economics of this are a bit different between Crescentwood and the North End. I wish the city had a fund to facilitate good-quality adaptive reuse of heritage buildings.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.8675...7i16384!8i8192

[esquire]

There was another old church in the North End, on Burrows I think, that someone wanted to convert to a haunted house attraction some years back. You just know it would have been done in the most slipshod, half-assed way imaginable and it would have ruined the building. It ultimately ended up becoming a mosque, a much more dignified purpose for a structure like that.