Province approves Hanover LUD expansions

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This article was published 31/12/2020 (1981 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After eight years of waiting, council in the RM of Hanover learned last week that the provincial government has agreed to expand Local Urban District (LUD) boundaries in Mitchell and Blumenort.

Council reviewed a Dec. 15 letter from Municipal Relations Minister Rochelle Squires during its Dec. 23 regular meeting. Squires approved both expansions, effective Jan. 1.

“That expansion took almost the better part of nine years,” chief administrative officer Luc Lahaie remarked.

The RM applied for the expansions in 2012 but was told to develop the land in the proposed expansion areas first.

Next, the RM had to update its zoning bylaw and development plan, a multi-year process. A land annexation initiated by the City of Steinbach also lengthened the timeline.

“In theory it should go much faster next time,” Jeremy Neufeld, Hanover’s manager of planning, said.

Neufeld explained the province no longer requires municipal development limits to match taxation areas. That means LUD boundaries can now gallop ahead of development, rather than keep pace with it.

The new process better accommodates the growth that fuels most LUD expansion requests in the first place, while still ensuring large portions of undeveloped farmland aren’t taxed at an urban rate, Lahaie and Neufeld explained.

Blumenort’s revised LUD boundary includes a piece of land south of Rockridge Drive and west of Highway 12.

In Mitchell, the north and south ends of the LUD boundary were pushed out to include a proposed modular home park and new subdivisions.

The RM has previously said taxes could decrease slightly for residents living in the expansion areas, though 2021 mill rates won’t be finalized until spring.

New LUDs also proposed

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic is hampering the process of creating new LUDs in Kleefeld and New Bothwell.

Ward councillors from the two communities provided an update on their efforts to get the requisite number of signatures on petitions.

Coun. Travis Doerksen said he has accumulated just under half of the 201 signatures needed in New Bothwell.

“I’m at about a third,” Coun. Darrin Warkentin said of his efforts in Kleefeld, where 301 signatures are needed.

Doerksen said most people want an in-person explanation before they sign, which is proving challenging during code red.

“It’s too bad we can’t do an online petition,” Warkentin said.

The Municipal Act requires a hard copy signed in the presence of a witness, Lahaie explained.

Planning for the new LUDs predated the pandemic, which subsequently scuttled public consultations.

Reeve Stan Toews said he’s heard little from ratepayers on the topic. He attributed the silence to people laying low during the pandemic.

Council has up to two years to submit the petitions but hopes to finish the entire process before the next municipal general election in October 2022.

Ratepayers in the two communities would then elect two or three LUD committee members in addition to a ward councillor.

LUD committees provide communities with more say on everything from public works to recreation priorities.

Lahaie noted some Manitoba municipalities are returning to at-large models of governance and taxation.

“We love LUDs here in Hanover,” he said.

Coun. Brian Esau joked that council might as well apply to expand the proposed LUDs, if provincial approval takes eight years to arrive.

“We now have an understanding of the process and the procedure,” Lahaie replied. “There’s no reason for the province to twiddle their thumbs on this. It just makes sense.”

-with files from Josh Greschner