Posted Aug 14, 2013, 2:56 AM
|
 |
The good old days are now
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Montreal
Posts: 4,256
|
|
Mauvaise nouvelle pour le Commodore
Quote:
Mayoralty contenders back coalition against waterfront projects
http://www.portailconstructo.com/act...ation_nautique
By Joel Ceausu, August 7th, 2013
A movement to halt the development of almost 500 condominium units on shoreline property in Laval's Pont Viau district has picked up steam and garnered political support from at least two mayoral contenders.
The "Pas de tours dans ma cour" movement has at least three projects in its sights, the Commodore, Envol and 222, and chief among the objections for the would-be mayors is the norms under which they were planned and the lack of any consultation.
“The mobilization against the projects is the result of mismanagement of the development of Pont-Viau,” said Mouvement lavallois' Marc Demers. By “avoiding at all costs” the consultation of the population on key projects said Demers, “the city fanned the anger of residents of the district. Unfortunately, it's the developers who will pay the price.”
Access to the shoreline, loss of heritage value, added traffic and change of character of old neighborhoods figure high on the list of criticisms, but at the root of it all says Parti au Service du Citoyen leader Robert Bordeleau, “are poorly planned projects demonstrating ad-hoc, short-sighted management by the current administration.”
“These projects were conceived under the old norms,” said Bordeleau, adding that under new rules set forth in a decree by the provincial government, riverside building must comply with revised standards adopted in 2005. “These projects and many others in Laval were built according to the 1995 rules.” He says that while economic development is vital for the city, in one case “we see lots of exclusive housing, but what about citizen's rights to go to their waterfront. Why are we privatizing that?”
The new rules change the amount of territory between developments and the shoreline and other factors, and were long ignored by Laval and other municipalities north of Montreal when considering development. Rising concern over erosion, flooding, property damage and security prompted the Quebec government to step in. “Quebec just changed the rules here and we'll have to sit back down with any developers to see what can be done,” said Bordeleau. “So far the Ministry (of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks which set the decree) hasn't given its approval.”
For his part, Demers insists the neighbourhood can be densified and reinvigorated while preserving its heritage character, by creating a young family atmosphere not unlike Rosemont and Plateau Mont Royal. “These formerly struggling neighbourhoods are now among the most densely populated in North America, but managed to preserve their friendly and unique character.” This was done he said, “While developing their economy and without adopting easy solutions of sterile high-rise residential buildings.”
The area’s own Councillor Michèle des Trois Maisons stated publicly that the Vaillancourt administration, which she was part of for eight years, didn't consult the public after adopting the plan and that councillors were powerless to challenge the mayor and the executive committee.
|
http://thesuburban.com/article.php?i...front-Projects
|
Prev
This is as tall as it'll get, if I'm not mistaken.
Linear Mode
