Developers pushing ahead with $35.6M Ste-Anne suit

A trio of developers suing SteAnne-de-Bellevue for $35.6 million for what they describe as disguised expropriation remains undeterred by a recent Quebec Superior Court decision in a similar case involving another municipality and another developer.

In August, Quebec Superior Court Judge Johanne Mainville ruled that she did not recognize the City of Beaconsfield’s actions involving a piece of land owned by Yale Properties as a form of disguised expropriation.

Following that ruling, Ste-Anne Mayor Paola Hawa spoke with the Montreal Gazette about similarities she noted between the Beaconsfield case and the pending Ste-Anne case.

In a prepared statement, developers Sylvain Ménard, Raymond Allard and Jean Houde said, “Mayor Hawa is once again showing bad faith and is wrong to claim that there are many similarities. The facts in the Beaconsfield case are totally different from those that concern us, especially since the developer (Yale Properties) did not claim any damages and no (special planning project) or concordance bylaws barring the development had been adopted by (Beaconsfield).”

The developers, operating under the title Développement Immobilier Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue (DISAB), are suing Ste-Anne-deBellevue because they allege the town is preventing them from developing land they own in the northern sector of the town.

In June, Ste-Anne town council unanimously adopted a special planning project (SPP) for an undeveloped portion of the northern sector. The plan focused on conserving as much green space as possible. In July, DISAB launched the lawsuit, accusing the town of preventing it from developing on 80 per cent of its land.

Hawa said the SPP does not prevent the developers from developing on their land.