New development south of Brandon a step closer after annexation vote

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This article was published 05/06/2018 (2771 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Construction of a new commercial hub south of Brandon could begin by next summer, according to VBJ Developments.

The annexation process for 170 acres southwest of the Patricia Avenue and Highway 10 intersection has been years in the making. On Monday, it took a significant step forward when Brandon City Council voted to officially sign the annexation agreement with the RM of Cornwallis. The Manitoba Municipal Board has accepted the annexation proposal, and is now waiting to see if the RM of Cornwallis will sign on as well.

“The two municipalities had worked co-operatively on determining these terms previously, so the intent is that hopefully this next step in the process goes fairly smoothly,” said chief city planner Ryan Nickel.

Nickel noted that if both councils do sign the agreement, it will go back to the province one more time. RM of Cornwallis Reeve Heather Dalgleish could not be reached for comment.

“This is the last step the city has in the process, and then it just goes up to the province to see if the government wants … make this thing a reality,” Nickel said. “Of course, they don’t have to … They’re still in control of the process. But up to this point at least, we’ve done everything we were supposed to do to move this thing along.”

VBJ Developments is proposing a commercial regional hub, as well as a mix of high- and low-density housing on the property.

Steve McMillan, VBJ’s vice-president of planning services, first presented to Brandon and Area Planning District on this topic in 2011. The company officially submitted an application for urban expansion in 2014. Background studies were prepared by the applicant prior to the process picking up steam in 2017.

“It’s great that it’s got to this point,” McMillan said. “We can just put this part of it behind us and move forward with the development plan, and we’ll look at zoning/ subdivision in the near future as well.”

The vision is to develop the property into a 50-acre commercial area, with 10 to 20 acres of mixed-use structures with higher-density residential bordering the commercial development. The remainder of the property would be a mix of residential, with the potential for 1,200 to 1,500 units at full build-out.

McMillan said they want to create another regional retail hub, hopefully attracting a few major anchor tenants, possibly a grocery store, strip malls, restaurants, etc.

“Something a little different than maybe what’s already offered somewhere else in Brandon,” he said. “It’s open to really anything right now. We haven’t been able to get anything too serious put together when the land is still in the RM, still zoned (agriculture).”

A new concept plan will be developed in the next six to 12 months, to provide more detail of what will be put in and how it will be laid out, McMillan added.

The only councillor opposed to the annexation was Coun. Lonnie Patterson (South Centre), who spoke about using space already within city limits for commercial development.

“Our downtown has suffered a pretty big blow… and I would prefer to see efforts and energies put into that,” she said.

Throughout the process there have been several public consultations. Drainage and transportation were the top concerns from residents in the area.

“Those pieces …are not a mystery to us,” Nickel said. “We understand what those are and we’re committed to working with the developer and the different regulatory agencies to solve these as we work through the development process.”

Mayor Rick Chrest said annexations aren’t a simple process. However, it took longer than he thought it would.

“Hopefully this does get us closer to the finish line, and the developer can start moving to the next step, on their plans,” he said.

There has been much interest from the community in what this new commercial district will entail, and Chrest said it would be a positive addition to the city.

“It certainly takes away some of the … leakage. If you don’t have certain goods or services, then people take off and they drive to Winnipeg or they drive to Regina or go to the States,” he said.

“The more and more we have, the more people we hold in our trading area, and draw people from even farther away.”

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