Esso gas bar with Tim Hortons and convenience store on bypass moves forward

Plans are moving ahead after two years of efforts to bring a convenience store and gas bar to the Days Inn location on the bypass in Portage la Prairie. RM of Portage council once again was engaged in much deliberation Tuesday over the implications involved.

The intersection at that location is one of the two most dangerous within the RM, with the Highway 1 and 16 intersection the other. Several fatalities have occurred there throughout the years. 

Provincial community planner for the Department of Municipal Relations Elise Denheyer explains how far the efforts have come at this point as a result of this week's approval.

"Basically, this is a condition of subdivision approval because they need to split the land in order to separate the existing land that just has the Days Inn," says Denheyer. "This new lot will be specifically for the gas convenience bar. The residual land will just make the Days Inn land a bit smaller. It is a condition of subdivision, but they still have other conditions to meet."

Elise Denheyer

She notes the applicants made a proposition in the past and were not successful. Denheyer explains it was already zoned as Commercial Highway, but in order for the application for the subdivision, they had to have it re-designated. The re-designation changed it from Agricultural to Commercial Industrial.

"This was subject to approval from the Minister and then third reading," adds Denheyer. "They had to do that before they applied for the subdivision. When they originally applied for it, it was zoned Commercial Highway. But they didn't have the drawings and a sitemap. They went to a surveyor and said no one was in attendance. They just didn't have a lot of information. Now they've kind of done all the due diligence. They've got the land re-designated. The commercial zoning and the designation allow for this because before, we couldn't even do the subdivision. If it doesn't meet the development plan, we don't have a policy to allow for it. We can't accept the subdivision. I've helped them all along the steps to meet all the conditions to get to this stage."

Jai Inder Sandhu of 6844406 Manitoba Ltd. is the man behind the project and says he wants to put an Esso gas station and convenience store with a Tim Hortons location at this site.

"I have lots of land and want to spend money at this location," says Sandhu. "We will have four gas pumps plus two for trucks -- six altogether."

He says he and his wife are both excited and nervous as they proceed with the plans. 

"I'm very happy that they approved it," notes Sandhu. 

Satbir Sandhu is Jai Inder's wife and adds her thoughts.

"We're doing our best," says Sandhu. "We just want to finish this project. We are so excited for that and, hopefully, we will do it the way we want it. We want everybody with us, too. We don't want anything that would hurt someone. We want everybody to be happy. We want a happy neighbourhood, too. So, we want to work with all neighbours around us. If there is anybody with concerns, they could come to meet us. We can get together. We are getting help from Elise Denheyer, too. She's very helpful for us and she's teaching the way it's supposed to be. We want to do everything required by law."

Reeve Kam Blight says council gave careful consideration of the application, and voted in favour of the approval of the conditional use subject to some conditions.

"Basically, we must have a traffic plan study meet our satisfaction," notes Blight. "That's a very major big concern for the municipality. The intersection where this proposed gas station would be has seen its fair share of accidents and even fatalities. We need to make sure that safety is paramount and that that is addressed before any development is done in that area."

He says the RM has concerns about the nearby Assiniboine River to ensure that the build is far enough away so as to not pose future problems in the river. 

"There's a certain set-back that this gas station must adhere to from the highway, which then could also make it, possibly, too close to the Assiniboine River," continues Blight. "So, we want to make sure that all the necessary steps are taken to protect the water quality in the Assiniboine River as well as the water quality below ground, and that due diligence is done in that sense.  A proper drainage plan must be in place in regards to any materials from the paved parking lot flowing into the river. And also it must be ensured that a proper containment system is in place for any spills or mishaps. A lot of those things are hoops and steps that they need to go through with the province of Manitoba.  Approving this conditional use is just one step so that they can take it to the next steps which include getting these traffic studies and drainage plans all approved."

Blight says there are also concerns about the new hydro transmission lines that will be going through that area in the future.

"The location of this build is very, very important to be RM of Portage," adds Blight. "If the application is successful in meeting the requirements with the province of Manitoba, then they would enter into a development agreement with the RM of Portage. Then we could also work with them on the location and of the building and the drainage, as well, on top of what's already been put in place."