Gimli council voted in favour of expanding the King’s Park subdivision, about five kilometres north of Gimli.
Council held a public hearing Sept. 13 to consider a developer’s request to rezone a parcel of forested land along King’s Way, the only road that leads in and out of the subdivision. The land is currently designated agricultural limited (or AL) under municipal zoning. The developer wants to create 23 new lots for single-family dwellings and asked that the land be rezoned to residential resort (or SRR).
A number of King’s Park residents raised objections to the expansion, saying it could “open the door” to even more short-term rentals in the residential neighbourhood.
Residents say short-term rentals in the neighbourhood have resulted in excessive numbers of guests in a single dwelling, loud parties with public drunkenness, children riding motorized vehicles along the street and traffic congestion.
“These are supposed to be single-family dwellings and [guests] are bringing trailers and multiple families each week they are rented, even bringing trailers to accommodate more. If we have another 20+ houses on the street like this, it will be a nightmare,” wrote two residents in their objection letter.
They also expressed concern about the destruction of the forest that lines both sides of King’s Way.
Other letters of objection also raised the issue of the potential for more short-term rental accommodation.
“We realize that this rezoning proposal is not specifically about this issue, but the wording of the [SRR] description has implications for us. It reads in part, ‘This zone is intended mainly for single-family residential uses . . .’, but it also allows for ‘other uses generally considered compatible with such uses,’” said other residents in their objection letter. “What is unclear is whether these ‘other uses’ might include AirB&Bs and other short term rentals, which are, after all, commercial enterprises and should not be considered compatible with single-family residential uses.”
The RM is the process of developing regulations for short-term rentals. Those regs are expected next year.
“Currently the use of a ‘short term rental’ is not listed as its own use and rental properties are deemed a residential use since they are dwellings. However, the RM of Gimli is working on regulations for short term rentals, but we are not sure what the regulations would be or the timelines,” states the Eastern Interlake Planning District in response to some of the residents’ concerns about home rentals.
Gimli Mayor Kevin Chudd and councillors Thora Palson, Andy Damm and Kurt Reichert (Coun. Richard Petrowski was away) approved the rezoning.
Other council news:
- Council approved a request to establish a home occupation in Sandy Hook called Fantasy in the Hook, which will be a seasonal art galley.
- Council approved a request to establish a home occupation in the South Beach neighbourhood of Gimli called Tattoos by Selene, which will be a year-round tattoo and paramedical tattoo service.
- Council rejected a request from developer Chris Peacock, who built a life lease building at 47 First Ave. Peacock asked council to consider letting him establish parking stalls on municipal land on the south side of the building and reduce the number of stalls on his property.
- Council gave first reading to Bylaw No. 23-0006 to repeal a bylaw that had been passed in 2021 establishing a Reconciliation Committee for the municipality.
The repealing bylaw states that the Reconciliation Committee bylaw (No. 21-0010) had been “ineffective due to limited engagement.”
The committee at that time had yet to consult with regional First Nations communities and the local Indigenous population regarding the re-naming of municipal roads with the word Colonization in them. The committee, which was established by a previous iteration of council, had come up with a suggested list of Indigenous and Indigenous-themed names for Colonization Road in Arnes and North Colonization Road, South Colonization Road and Colonization Close in Gimli.
In 1876, the Government of Canada surveyed and authorized the building of an approximately 80-kilometre road to link land it had designated for Icelandic settlers (called New Iceland) to Winnipeg. The road was originally called Colony Road to reflect the government’s formal designation of the settlement. The road stretched from the southern edge of New Iceland to Lundi in the north, according to the 1981 book Icelandic Settlers in America by Elva Simundsson.
When the name Colonization was adopted is unclear, but it is considered offensive to Indigenous peoples.
Current council will be discussing the re-naming of the roads in future.
- Council passed a resolution to fly the Red River Metis and the Every Child Matters flags at the municipal office. The flags currently flown at the office are the Canadian flag, the provincial flag and the municipal flag.
Mayor Kevin Chudd and councillors Kurt Reichert and Andy Damm voted in favour of flying the Metis and Every Child Matters flags at the RM office (Coun. Richard Petrowski was away). Coun. Thora Palson voted against the motion, preferring the flags be flown at the municipality’s designated flag-flying area on Gimli Beach where the municipality’s commitment to human equality can be easily viewed by residents and tourists.
“As a community leader, and personally, I have a strong and unwavering commitment of support for the Indigenous peoples of our community, province and nation,” said Palson. “My own reconciliation journey expanded when I fully understood that the harms inflicted on and felt by Indigenous peoples are a responsibility for each one of us even if we as individuals did not personally take harmful actions. The process of healing is an engagement that is very important to me as my reconciliation learning journey continues.”
The municipality established a central, highly visible location on Gimli Beach where the Every Child Matters and the Flag of Humanity flags currently fly, she said. They represent the community’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and the universal message of how we care for the Earth as we pass it on to our children.
“My values are that a government represents all its citizens and that the flags flown at the government office are to be inclusive of all people in our municipality, province and nation,” said Palson.
Other members of council were unavailable for comment.
