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This article was published 18/11/2014 (2133 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A development plan is winding its way through city hall that proposes to create a new suburb in northwest Winnipeg with homes for 5,400 residents.

There is no fancy name yet for the suburb: It’s known simply as Precinct E — 170 acres north of Leila Avenue and west of the commercial development on McPhillips Street.

The planning report proposes that upwards of 1,800 dwelling units can be built on the site, through a combination of single-family homes, low-rise multiplexes and higher density, low-rise apartment buildings.

The project is being driven by developer Genstar, which has eyes on a 90-acre section of farm land on the northern half of the site. Two dozen residences dot the southern section, on large rural lots off gravel roads. The area now has no water or sewer services.

Planner Donovan Toews, whose firm Landmark Planning and Design produced the precinct plan for Genstar, said while the area is on the city’s outskirts it’s actually an infill development because of the existing adjacent development.

"It’s bounded by roughly 75 per cent of existing development," Toews said.

A precinct plan is the first step in Winnipeg for new development, a document that outlines, in broad terms, where housing will be developed and the density, where the parks will be found, and, where appropriate, where any commercial development will take place.

The precinct plan process ensures that where there are multiple owners and developers within an area, individual developments will be complimentary to each other and to the existing neighbourhoods. It’s the standard procedure in Winnipeg now before any new developments outside existing neighbourhoods can occur.

The more detailed subdivision plans will follow.

CITY OF WINNIPEG REPORT The proposed boundaries of Precinct E.

City council gave first reading in September to a bylaw that would authorize this precinct plan. This document now will be presented at a public hearing later this evening at the Lord Selkirk-West Kildonan community committee and then forwarded through to the property and development committee, executive policy committee and council for final approval.

Once the precinct plan is approved, Toews said it would probably be another year for subdivision plans to be approved and house construction to get started.

Precinct E is one of seven precincts along the city’s outskirts in the northwest area

"There’s no question there is demand," for new housing, Toews said, adding however the precinct plan stay in place once it’s been approved regardless of how long it takes for individual developers to start construction.

Toews said a great deal of preparatory work was done before the plan was produced, including meetings with existing homeowners, police and emergency services, and the local school division. A public open house was held in February 2012.

Toews said this precinct plan envisions about 40 per cent of the site to be for multi-family housing — about 1,200 units — with 600 units for single-family homes.

The plan identifies four park areas to be developed within the site.

The multi-family areas are restricted to the periphery of the site, close to the traffic arteries of Pipeline Road and Leila Avenue. Recreational trails and paths dissect the area, linking the single-family homes to the multi-family areas and to the main traffic arteries.

The design, size and dollar value of the units won’t be decided by individual developers until the subdivision plan stage, where more detailed planning within the precinct will be brought back to city hall.

An administrative report said the first area likely to be developed within Precinct E will be Genstar’s 90 acres of single-family homes.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca