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![\"JOHN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4298062_web1_251117_granite_club_parking_02.jpg\")
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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
The Granite Curling Club\u2019s parking lot is the proposed site for a hotly debated housing project.<\/p>\n
Mercury said the club, and its legal team, were not allowed to make public presentations to council about their concerns just prior to the final decision.<\/p>\n
The city noted there were meetings delegates could not speak at because a public hearing had already closed.<\/p>\n
Supporters say the 11-storey, 111-unit residential building approved for city-owned land at 30 Granite Way would offer desperately needed homes downtown. Half of the suites will have affordable rents for 99 years.<\/p>\n
However, the city approved the project while rejecting a Manitoba Municipal Board direction that it develop an \u201cadequate\u201d parking plan \u201cto the satisfaction of the Granite Curling Club\u201d and city as part of the process.<\/p>\n
The Granite\u2019s legal challenge argues the city did not have the power to reject that recommendation. At the time of the recommendation, legislation required the city to only pass bylaws that \u201cconform\u201d to the Municipal Board\u2019s recommendations.<\/p>\n
The curling club has long feared the development would eliminate 45 of its 80 parking stalls, rendering its operation no longer financially viable.<\/p>\n
Mercury said city staff at one point \u201cmanufactured new arguments\u201d in an administrative report to move the project forward, despite the Municipal Board ruling.<\/p>\n
One city report concluded the parking plan condition was \u201cnot in respect of the proposed bylaw\u201d so the provincial board had \u201cno authority\u201d to impose the condition. The report also stated council was not legally bound to follow it.<\/p>\n
The club has since heard the city plans to begin construction on the project this summer, partly to secure federal housing funding to support it, said Mercury.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to start construction on the site in mid-August, while it\u2019s (still) before the court\u2026. The law does not step aside simply because there are funding application deadlines for the City of Winnipeg,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kalyn Bomback, the city\u2019s lawyer, stressed the municipal government had the power to approve the project without the parking clause noted by the Municipal Board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city does take the position that not only did council have the jurisdiction to make this decision but\u2026 it was also correct in the circumstances of this case,\u201d said Bomback.<\/p>\n
She noted city council also passed a separate motion directing staff to work with the curling club on parking solutions when it negotiated the club\u2019s lease, outside of the bylaw process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe parallel lease matter that council considered on the exact same day (as the bylaw)\u2026 (was to) direct the public service to negotiate and work with the Granite curling club on terms and conditions of a new lease agreement that expands the leased area to include new parking stalls,\u201d said Bomback.<\/p>\n
She said the city properly followed its processes, which would normally see parking arrangements worked out during a later permitting stage, not within a bylaw.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city council decision was reasonable \u2026 It has consistently acted in good faith. It has consistently made efforts to work with the Granite Curling Club,\u201d said Bomback.<\/p>\n
Court of King\u2019s Bench Justice Amiram Kotler reserved his decision Tuesday evening, noting he hoped to return with a ruling in the fall.<\/p>\n
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After the hearing, Christian Pierce, secretary of the curling club\u2019s board, said there is great concern construction may begin before the legal matter is resolved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve asked the city not to proceed with the development until this process is played out. They haven\u2019t formally agreed to that. So, the Granite will explore all options necessary, if they start building,\u201d said Pierce.<\/p>\n
He said that could include seeking an injunction to stop construction.<\/p>\n
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
X: @joyanne_pursaga<\/p>\n
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Joyanne Pursaga Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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