City takes long-running Capital Pointe fight to court
After an appeal board halted plans to fill the Capital Pointe hole, the City of Regina is challenging what it calls an “unreasonable decision.”
The city is applying for a court order striking down an Aug. 23 decision of the Saskatchewan Building and Accessibility Standards Appeal Board, which disputed the city ’s claim that the excavation pit at the corner of Albert Street and Victoria Avenue is unsafe.
While the city wanted to enforce an April backfill order, the board instead gave the property owner three options: Fill in the hole, build the tower slated for the site or construct permanent shoring to ensure its long-term safety. All three options have timelines, and Westgate Properties was ordered to let the city know its choice by September 30.
In filings with the Court of Queen’s Bench this week, the city argues the appeal board’s decision was not supported by the evidence or the reasons provided to justify it.
“The Board’s conclusion that the site is not in an unsafe condition is an unreasonable decision,” the city submission states succinctly.
Further, the city contends the board went beyond its jurisdiction in granting Westgate the latter two options — permanent shoring or construction — since both “would require building, development and street-use approvals which are outside the authority of the Board to grant or compel.” It also claims the board delegated the “content” of its order to Westgate Properties.
The matter is currently scheduled to be heard at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Regina on Sept. 27.
It’s the latest turn in a dispute that stretches back months over a project delayed for years. In April, the city issued a backfill order directing Westgate Properties to fill the hole that has long sat idle at the site — once intended for a 27-storey hotel and condo tower that would be the tallest in Saskatchewan.
The city raised concerns that the temporary shoring supporting the pit’s walls could shift and endanger adjacent buildings.
Westgate appealed the order, setting the stage for a hearing before the appeal board. During three days of testimony in late July, experts presented evidence that the ground around the excavation pit had indeed moved. But the project’s new engineer assured the board that the site was later stabilized, and could be kept safe until at least December through continued monitoring.
Capital Pointe was first proposed in 2009 under the name Westgate Plaza, but assumed a form reminiscent of its current design the next year.
It faced repeated delays and changing developers. The everpresent work site has frustrated residents navigating a busy intersection.
Fortress Real Developments, the lead developer and a major owner of Westgate, has consistently maintained that it still plans to complete the project — which has already eaten up $14 million.