‘A blight on the neighbourhood’: Charleswood residents raise alarm over proposed development

Charleswood residents are raising the alarm over a potential new multi-family development in their neighborhood. Joseph Bernacki reports.

Charleswood residents opposed to a multi-family development on Roblin Boulevard are concerned about privacy, the size of the build and how the design will fit into the existing streetscape.

A six-storey building with 132 units is proposed for a large swath of land next to Charleswood United Church and several homes on nearby Buckingham Road.

Steini Hibbert has lived on Buckingham Road for 38 years. He said his backyard may soon look very different if the project is greenlit, as it directly faces the new proposed complex.

“It’s going to be a blight on the neighbourhood,” Hibbert said, adding the projected build size exceeds 65 feet in height. “It’s a monster.”

Hibbert believes the project does not fit the nature of the neighborhood which is outlined as a factor in the City of Winnipeg property development guidelines.

“The city’s guidelines, their bylaws, the booklets that they developed speak about doing housing that’s fitting to the character and the style of the neighbourhood. This ain’t it,” he said.

Evan Duncan, City Counsellor of Charleswood, Tuxedo and Westwood was not available for comment on Wednesday on this proposed build.

CTV News Winnipeg reached out to Exemplar Developments, the property developers listed on the website for this particular build. They have not replied back.

McGowan Russell Group, the company hired for planning the development told CTV News Winnipeg they would have no comment at this time.

On Thursday morning, the City of Winnipeg will be holding a public hearing to discuss the future of development at 4724, 4814 and 4820 Roblin Boulevard.

‘Every spring we have flooding’: resident

Privacy concerns are top of mind for Hibbert’s neighbour Colin Nichols.

“Basically, whoever’s on the top floor is going to be looking straight out into my property,” Nichols said. “It’s going to be an invasion of privacy big time.”

Nichols is also worried about the impact of drainage issues on residential backyards.

“Every spring we have flooding,” Nichols said. “What we’ve been told is that they’re going to pump into a retention and we’re waiting to find out what type of retention this is going to be.”