Winnipeg moves to scrap bird-friendly window bylaw, developers argue hinder development
Conservationists are raising concerns as the City of Winnipeg is considering rolling back a development bylaw designed to help protect birds from deadly window strikes, less than a year after the rules came into force.
The City of Winnipeg says it will hold a public hearing on Dec. 18 to consider “Removing” bird-friendly window requirements. For a mix of constructions near major corridors and malls.
“I’m kind of … surprised,” said Kevin Fraser, an associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Manitoba who focuses on bird migration and ecology.
“(It’s) a backwards move for the birds.”
The City published a notice in the Winnipeg Free Press on November 27 outlining proposed amendments to “Schedule AB”. Mall and Corridor Zoning Bylaws 200/2006.”
Changes to the table include dropping bird-friendly window requirements.
A bird-safe window is one that is manufactured or retrofitted with features such as patterned films, decals, glazes or coatings to reduce attacks.
Canada estimates between environment and climate change Between 16 million and 42 million migratory birds die each year in Canada. because of this window collision.
2013 Canadian study Houses are the cause of most of the deaths found overall, as there are more houses than other buildings overall.
But Fraser says that while those findings suggest that each average residential home may be responsible for the deaths of about two birds per year, each low-to-medium structure may be responsible for about five, and each high-rise building may cause the deaths of 10 birds annually.
winnipeg City Council began considering Bird-friendly guidelines developed by the Canadian Standards Association four years ago. The association recommends applying glazes, decals or other measures to 90 percent of glass within the first 16 meters of a building, or up to the height of adjacent mature tree canopies.
Last fall, the council voted unanimously in favor of a proposal from the county public works chairman. Janice Luke will adopt bird-friendly window developments for select mall sites and corridors, excluding the city’s downtown.
His office declined to comment for this story.
Mall and corridor zoning rules – called “planned development overlays” – that include bird-safe requirements went into effect this January.
They were part of a series of bylaw changes made as part of the city’s previous federalization. Housing Accelerator Fund Application to help speed up the approval and construction of new housing around malls and major thoroughfares.
The changes now being proposed come after feedback from industry suggested that “prescriptive” bird-friendly requirements created barriers to development.According to the city, primarily due to the challenges of sourcing conforming materials and cost.
A spokesperson said that construction measures such as window glazing that “promote bird-friendly design” are encouraged, but the city supports amendments to “provide flexibility so that these measures do not overly restrict or prevent development.”
‘V‘Every little bit benefits’ coating: Industry association
One industry voice providing feedback to the city is the Urban Development Institute of Manitoba, an association whose members include developers from the commercial, industrial and residential sectors.
Executive Director Lanny McInnes said some members have less experience Ottawa’s Bird-Friendly Framework Said that the coatings or treatments were “challenging to source” and claimed they “did not reach the intended goal, which is clearly to protect birds.”
“But more importantly, there are other factors that affect the likelihood of bird strike: window treatments, location of trees and foliage around the building, use of interior and exterior lights, use of blinds, paint color of the interior of the unit, wind patterns, shade, shade, time of day,” he said.
“All of those things are a significant factor in terms of potential bird strikes above and beyond the coating on the exterior window,” said McInnes, who is also president of the Manitoba Home Builders Association.
“There is very little, if any, benefit from this, as well as quite significant additional costs and supply chain issues.”
But a former Canadian Wildlife Service biologist, two national conservation groups and the U of M Fraser all have a different view.
“Certainly they work to reduce the mortality of birds that hit windows,” said Ron Bazin, a retired species-at-risk biologist for the Wildlife Service.
“There are threats that (birds) are having to migrate,” he said, and “it feels a little sad that we’re having an impact on that.”
Autumn Jordan, Nature Canada’s bird-friendly cities organizer, said window interventions are “one of the easiest ways we can help reverse the biodiversity crisis.”
Jordan pointed out A study from 2022 The decal product, designed by Canadian company Feather Friendly, can reduce the risk of collision by up to 95 percent. It also found that a patterned UV-reflective coating could reduce attacks by 71 percent.
Nature Canada last week announced its latest list of Canadian municipalities it has certified as bird-friendly. add calgary And there are many more on a growing list that doesn’t include any Manitoba communities.
“Grassland birds and aerial insectivores are the subgroups of birds whose numbers are declining the most in Canada,” said Jordan.
“Winnipeg can really play an important role in reducing one of those hazards, by maintaining its bird-safe design standards… window strikes.”
Industry needs education: Flap Canada
flap (Fatal Light Awareness Program) Canada, a non-profit organization that works to raise awareness of the issue of bird-building collisions, determined the average cost of making a 40-story multi-unit residential building safe for birds. One percent of construction cost.
Biologist Brendan Samuels, FLAP’s research coordinator, did his PhD work at Western University on bird window-strike solutions and related policy.
Bird-safe glazes use some of the same common manufacturing techniques as privacy window fittings and products applied to reduce heat gain through glass, Samuels said.
“It’s really important that we stick to the facts,” he said. “It doesn’t delay construction timelines, it doesn’t meaningfully increase the cost of housing construction.”
But there is a “knowledge gap” in the industry, which requires “regulatory certainty,” Samuels said.
“They also need education about what it takes to build to comply with these standards.”
Although the federal government’s Habitat Accelerator Fund does not include any conditions requiring bird-friendly design, Samuels suggested it should be consistent with existing federal law.
Canada’s Migratory Bird Convention Act states that it is illegal to kill migratory birds, “Even from activities that are not directly aimed at harming them,” such as collisions with windows.
The Endangered Species Act includes equal protection For federally endangered or threatened species.
“I would hope that if the federal government is giving money to municipalities to encourage densification … that the construction that gets done will be in compliance with federal laws,” Samuels said.
“(It’s) smart policy, because you don’t want to build things that are exposing building owners to liability when birds are congregating on the sidewalk outside their structure.”
Fraser said when the city began reviewing the bird-friendly design bylaw in 2021, “it seemed like a huge advancement, something great for our city.”
“And then, maybe before it really has a chance to have much of an impact on birds hitting our buildings, it’s (potentially) being repealed.”
