City of Brandon Charting The Course for Future Development in Brandon’s Protected Floodplain


May 3, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

*UPDATED May 22nd, 2019*

Brandon, MB – With the realities of extreme flooding along Brandon’s Assiniboine River Corridor once thought to be unlikely now part of the community’s collective wisdom, the City of Brandon is looking to the public for feedback as it charts a new vision for how building development occurs in Brandon’s diked floodplain areas.

Following severe river flooding events in 2011 and in 2014, the City of Brandon has worked hard in cooperation with senior levels of government and community stakeholders to mitigate the effects of subsequent years’ flooding through extensive infrastructure improvements, diligent emergency planning, and by restricting the types of development allowed to occur in the protected floodplain area. However, the existing height standards for buildings in the protected floodplain area have been challenging for developers to adhere to and the rules have been regularly deviated from as development has proceeded.

As such, the City of Brandon’s Development Services Division is looking to update the regulations and standards for the new development or the re-development of existing buildings within the City’s protected floodplain.

“Extreme flooding events such as the ones experienced in Brandon within the past decade have the potential for severe economic, social and environmental impacts and we, as a municipal government, are responsible for managing and reducing such risks for our residents,” notes City of Brandon Chief Planner Ryan Nickel. “We are therefore looking to refresh our regulations and standards in a way that strikes a balance between the interests of property owners to develop or redevelop in the diked areas of the floodplain with the need to protect people and property from flooding events.”

Residents and property owners in Brandon’s floodplain, along with the wider community, are invited to attend a workshop event on Thursday, June 6th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Riverbank Discovery Centre (545 Conservation Drive).  The workshop will begin at 5 p.m. with a presentation from City of Brandon administration followed by an interactive engagement piece. Advance registration is required by calling 204-729-2214 or by emailing b.patten@brandon.ca.

“We’re very interested in hearing from the residents, property owners and community members that live, work or take advantage of recreation opportunities within the protected areas of our City’s floodplain,” adds Nickel. “While recent flood events have forced us to acknowledge the risk that building on a floodplain carries, we now need to know what the community’s tolerance for such risk is and how that factors into what type of future building development proceeds in the area.”

Feedback from the public workshop will be considered by City Administration as its works to develop development and zoning by-law updates for Brandon City Council’s consideration later this year. More information about the floodplain development standards update process can be found on the City of Brandon website.