City rescinds Balmoral Street property owner’s order to clean up encampment

A West Broadway landlord, Marvin Sharp, is spared the cost of cleaning up a large riverbank encampment after the City of Winnipeg canceled an order threatening to make him responsible for the cleanup expenses. The city rescinded the order due to an existing and active easement on the property. The easement, a five-meter wide section that extends from Mostyn Park to Sharp's Pen-Eve Apartments, requires the city to maintain the pathway.

Marvin Sharp had informed the city about the potential easement, but the city was still investigating it. The Free Press reported in July that a city bylaw officer had observed "an accumulation of garbage" on the property, including tents and shopping carts, leading to a compliance order that required the property to be cleared by July 18.

Sharp did not receive the letter until July 17 and had to appeal the decision because he had not responded by the compliance deadline on a Saturday when city offices were closed. Despite the rescission of the order, Sharp noted that the encampment's presence on his property still violates the city's encampment ban policy.