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January
29,
2003
City
Councillors
renewed
the
City's
commitment
to
purchase
the
Bois
des
Esprits
forest
and
extend
the
fundraising
challenge
issued
last
June.
The
City
challenged
the
community
to
raise
funds
to
purchase
the
forest.
These
funds
will
be
matched
and
doubled
by
the
City,
to
be
used
towards
the
purchase
of
the
'A'
Quality
Habitat
along
the
Seine
River
for
a
future
City
Park.
"That
the
Director
of
Planning,
Property
and
Development
be
instructed
to
advise
Save
Our
Seine
River
[sic]
Inc.
that
the
'time
limited'
fundraising
campaign
has
been
extended
to
December
31,
2003,
subject
to
the
owner's
(Ladco
Development
Company)
consent."
Also
in
the
Council
decision
is
the
approval
of
the
Royalwood
Phase
II
Subdivision.
This
subdivision
was
approved
with
the
controversial
Southglen
bridge
crossing
of
the
Seine
River.
SOS
and
the
community
have
argued
that
destruction
of
the
habitat
due
to
clearing
of
forest
and
re-channeling
of
the
Seine
River
is
not
necessary.
The
City's
Environmental
Coordinator
had
advised
that
ecological
studies
confirmed
a
bridge
at
Southglen
Boulevard
would
negatively
impact
the
ecological
health
of
the
Seine
River
corridor,
including
wildlife
and
plant
species,
as
it
would
interrupt
the
connectivity
of
park
land
along
the
river.
In
addition,
a
second
bridge
to
the
new
subdivision
is
to
be
constructed
in
future
at
Warde
Avenue,
approximately
500
meters
from
Southglen
Boulevard.
EarthTech,
a
consultant
contracted
by
the
City
to
conduct
a
study
of
access
requirements
to
the
new
subdivision,
found
that
one
bridge
at
Warde
would
meet
projected
traffic
requirements,
based
on
traffic
flows
expected
after
full
development,
20
years
from
now.
Based
on
this
data,
SOS
advocated
that
only
one
bridge
should
be
constructed,
to
be
located
at
Warde.
A
bridge
at
this
site
would
not
fragment
Bois
des
Esprits.
EarthTech
suggested
that
for
purposes
of
"neighbourhood
connectivity"
and
emergency
vehicle
access,
a
second
crossing
may
be
necessary.
An
SOS
Board
member
and
former
Captain
of
the
City
Fire
Department,
disagreed
with
this
theory.
To
resolve
the
matter,
a
representative
from
the
City
Fire
department
was
invited
to
provide
his
input
to
City
Planning.
After
reviewing
plans
of
the
area,
he
confirmed
that
a
second
crossing
was
indeed
not
needed.
In
addition,
SOS
met
with
Dr.
David
van
Vliet,
Professor
of
the
Department
of
City
Planning,
Faculty
of
Architecture,
at
the
University
of
Manitoba.
The
Professor
forwarded
a
letter
to
the
City,
indicating
his
concerns
with
EarthTech's
study.
Some
of
his
specific
comments
included
the
following:
"Traffic
engineers
want
to
strive
to
what
they
assume
to
be
ideal
access
conditions.
Obviously,
certain
sites
are
limited
in
their
capacity
due
to
local
geographic
conditions;
in
this
case,
a
meandering
river
and
forest
to
the
west
and
rail
line
corridor
to
the
east.
Expecting
road
access
and
level
of
service
should
be
near
equal
all
over
is
simply
unrealistic.
I
expect
the
residents
of
Royalwood
II
will
make
trade-offs
in
their
perception
of
the
area's
advantages
-
being
near
a
forest
amenity
and
having
quiet
streets,
relative
to
an
additional
minute
or
two
of
travel
time".
"Obviously,
a
road
fragments
the
forest.
The
point
made
that
this
crossing
[at
Southglen]
is
located
near
the
south
limit
of
Class
"A"
vegetation
is
no
justification
for
extensive
alteration.
Doing
so
is
only
to
consider
the
classification
of
sensitive
lands
as
without
merit
or
implication,
and
to
continue
the
decades
of
planning
tradition
regarding
the
Seine
that
incremental
disturbance
and
conversion
of
lands
has
been
acceptable."
At
the
Riel
Community
Hearing
held
on
December
17,
2002,
a
residential
development
application
submitted
by
Ladco
Company
Ltd.,
which
included
a
bridge
to
be
constructed
at
Southglen
Boulevard,
received
approval
to
proceed.
Unfortunately,
construction
of
the
approach
and
re-channeling
of
the
Seine
River
for
Ladco's
bridge
at
Southglen
will
destroy
2.5
acres
of
Bois
des
Esprits.
Of
that,
0.75
acres
will
be
replanted
by
Ladco
for
bank
stability,
resulting
in
a
total
loss
of
1.75
acres
of
mature
Bur
Oak
forest
and
natural
riparian
habitat.
At
the
Riel
Hearing,
the
developer
also
requested
that
the
parcel
of
forest,
if
not
purchased
by
the
City
(with
SOS
fundraising)
be
REZONED
TO
'MULTIPLE-FAMILY
DISTRICT'
(RM-2)
which
will
allow
condos!
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