Despite five objections, second reading for the rezoning of a portion of a property on Sunrise Lane in the RM of La Broquerie was approved by a majority vote.

The property had a 5,000 square foot personal storage shed approved in the fall of 2014 by the previous council. The property owner, Garnet Enns, now came before the current council asking for the northern 330 feet (approximately five acres) to be rezoned to Rural Commercial/Industrial (RCI), to see the future use of the building as a rental facility, while the rest of the property remains Rural Area 2 (RA2).

Garnet EnnsEnns says he bought a five acre property with a home on Sunrise Lane in 1983 and in 1989 he purchased another five acres to the north and combined the properties onto one land title. He notes the northern five acres was used commercially at the time of purchase and has been used as an auto repair shop, auto body shop, commercial retail, a rental facility, and currently as a metal fabrication shop.

Enns says the northern portion of the property has been used commercially under the grandfather law but would like to bring it to code and into compliance with current by-laws and regulations.

Reeve Lewis Weiss says the future use of the building was not what the hearing was about, rather it was about whether or not to allow the rezoning.

"But it got into the future use of one of his buildings on there," notes Weiss. "We allowed it because we wanted all the neighbours to have their say about the situation. We then made a decision on the information we got and then we voted."

The RM sent notices to five surrounding residences and received three objections from residents, one from the City of Steinbach, and one from the province's Community and Regional Planning division.

Objections from residents included excessive noise, insufficient road allowance, and negative past experiences from the last time there was a rental facility on the property.

"When we moved to this area 22 years ago the gray barn beside us was used as a party barn," states one objection letter. "On many occasions, we had to call the RCMP to shut down the parties. We have had drunk people come to our door and wake us up by ringing our doorbell, and knocking on our windows at 1:00 in the morning. Some people were even throwing beer bottles at our dogs and sometimes even at us."

Enns says the statement about rowdy behaviour was probably 15 or 18 years ago and, to his knowledge, was never done on his property. He notes they live just off the highway which is not white picket fence property and he has had beer bottles thrown onto his property as well.

Further, the third objection letter stated the RCI zone is for agriculture-related operations or what may fall within the pre-established list of permitted or conditional uses of for the property, adding this does not include Place of Assembly. It also states the municipalities Development Plan says, "prime and viable lower class agricultural lands should not be developed for non-agricultural uses, unless there is no suitable alternate site capable of serving the proposed use or if the development at the selected location meets an important public need." The letter added there is no evidence showing an alternative site is not available or that the proposed development site serves an important public need.

Stephen WalkerStephen Walker was present at the hearing as a representative from the Community and Regional Planning division for the province. Walker's report included concerns already stated by residents. His reported added his concerns for the agricultural industry. 

"The intent of the Agricultural Area is to allow for normal agricultural practices such as manure spreading and to protect those practices from uses that may conflict, such as a meeting or banquet facility."

 The parcel of land is within the Transitional Policy Area Boundary between the RM of La Broquerie and the City of Steinbach. This means any new commercial proposals within two miles of Steinbach require the approval of both the City of Steinbach and the RM of La Broquerie. Steinbach City Planner Lacey Gaudet sent a letter of objection to La Broquerie council.

"The objection by the City focuses on the fact that the proposed rezoning is not in harmony with the existing policies set out in the RM of La Broquerie's Development Plan and Zoning By-Law."

Weiss and the rest of council had a private discussion to decide what they wanted to do about the issue. He says with the information from the province, it was stated agricultural land must be a certain distance away from the location of a proposed assembly hall, however, Weiss notes there are other rental facilities in the Southeast which are directly beside agricultural land and there has been no objection to their existence.

"[All of council] indicated it was a very difficult decision."

The rezoning of the northern 330 feet of the property from RA2 to RCI was approved by a majority vote of 4-3.

Due to the objections, Weiss says the issue will now go before the Manitoba Municipal Board for further review.