Steinbach city council has approved the rezoning of land and a variance to accommodate Greenwood Meadows, a 55-plus housing project by the Haven Group. It plans to build a five-storey, 74-suite, complex just to the southeast of Woodhaven Manor. Some neighbours along Woodhaven Avenue and Harvest Drive had wondered about having a large building in their back yard, the removal of trees and extra traffic that would result from the development.

Haven Group CEO David Driedger says the building will be located in the centre of the large lot, well away from people's back yards and they will keep as many trees as possible during construction. As for the other issues...

"I always think that if anyone wants to have a quiet evening, seniors' complexes are probably the best neighbours to have. Sure, there will be traffic. This will largely be a population of 75-plus and so most of the traffic really slows down toward evening. So I don't think that it will be a noisy crowd. Traffic will be reasonable."

Deputy Mayor John Fehr says the Haven Group did a good job of consulting all of the neighbours during the planning process.

"It's always refreshing when a developer or a builder consults with potentially-affected parties. They have done a great job. They talked to all the neighbours and sent them a letter and asked them to address any concerns they have. As far as we could tell, they had mitigated most of them. There are always going to be some things, when there's change happening in your neighbourhood, that are going to be a bit of a challenge and we recognize that. Hopefully, this is going to be a good fit for that area."

The Haven Group hopes to start construction next spring.

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Greenwood Meadows Takes On New Look

Diagram showing where the building (in black) will be located on the property.