Parker lands developer accuses City of Winnipeg of defying court order

Parker lands developer Andrew Marquess claims the City of Winnipeg is defying a court order to hold a public hearing into his land-use plan.

On Tuesday, city council's City Centre community committee will consider a plan to subdivide and rezone 47 acres of Fort Garry land to make way for a development called Fulton Grove.

In September, a court ordered the city to hold the hearing after Marquess argued the city has taken too long to approve the development.

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While that hearing is slated to proceed, Marquess and his lawyer Dave Hill claimed Friday the city is still defying the courts because city planning officials are demanding councilengage in a procedural reading of bylaw ahead of the hearing.

Marquess's company, Gem Equities, wants to build approximately 1,740 housing units on a triangle of Fort Garry land, acquiredin a 2009 land swap with the city.

After clearing land for the development last year over objections from protesters concerned about the loss of aspen forest Gem Equities submitted a formal plan to rezone the land for residential use and subdivide it into lots.

In a report to the committee about the rezoning, city planning staff recommend against the land-use changes. In a separate report, city planning staff also recommend against adopting a broader area plan proposed by Marquess, whose acceptance would require a bylaw to be read.

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Marquess and Hill claim this is in defiance of the wishes of the court, which determined no bylaw needed to be read.

The citydisagrees with the position, spokesperson Kalen Qually said in a statement.

Marquess, who has also sued the city over the slow progress of the development, also claimed the city is not allowing him or his staff to speak to city officials.

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He also alleged the city is meddling in the sale of a piece of the Fort Rouge Yards lands.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said while he wants to see development proceed on the lands owned by Marquess, the developer's actions have strained relations with the city.