Boisé Pearson condo development back to Square 1
“We needed 12 letters to trigger a register and we received 94,” outgoing Senneville Mayor Jane Guest said last week.
Guest was talking about the fierce opposition to the development of what is called the Triangle, a piece of land off Boulevard des Anciens Combattants in Senneville.
Developer Jacques Belisle owns the land. He originally presented a plan to build 12 single-family homes and council approved the necessary zoning amendment to accommodate that plan. In June, Belisle’s urban designer Marc Perreault presented a different plan for a condominium development called Boisé Pearson.
Public feedback was negative, so council asked for modifications.
In July, Perrault presented a revision that shrank the footprint from four condo buildings with 226 units to two buildings with 126 units — both buildings tucked into a corner as far away from adjacent homes as physically possible. The design also allowed for the conservation of 80 per cent of the forest and wetlands, which both citizens and council had said was a priority.
The revision did not sit well with residents living on streets backing onto the property and the request for a register was triggered.
The high number of signatures requesting a register sent a clear message to council that the project could not survive in its present form and so the request for the zoning change was rejected.
“The property remains zoned for 12 single-family homes,” Guest said. “It’s up to the developer to decide whether to move forward or to approach the new council (post-Nov. 5 election) with another plan.”
Guest said council was “bewildered” by the response. Six of the seven council members had approved of the revision. Guest voted against the revision because she said there were still too many units.
“We thought people would be more receptive to the revision,” she said. “But people feel very strongly that they don’t want multi-level projects in Senneville.”
Guest said gaining public approval for another development project called Senneville-on-the-Park — with its 83 single-family homes — was “already a stretch” and that any sign that Senneville’s population would continue to increase was being met with resistance.
Martin Gauthier’s home on Elmwood Avenue backs onto the Triangle. He helped lead the opposition to the project and was happy with council’s decision.
He said the project was “incompatible with (residents’) views as to how the land must be developed” and that their push to block the project showed how citizens can help shape municipal affairs.
Perrault said that he and Belisle respected the democratic process, but admitted to being disappointed.
“We blame ourselves for not taking the time to talk to people to better understand what they want,” he said. “We want to listen to people. But the people have to listen too.”