OCPM report had some good news for L’Anse-à-l’Orme conservationists
The OCPM report, while favourable to the cause of conservationists, still leaves the door open for the city to revisit the development option. Both sides of the debate continue to stand firm.
While conservationists won a pivotal battle with regard to the Pierrefonds West sector based on recommendations by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM), it’s not a done deal that the privately owned land will now be preserved as an eco-territory.
The OCPM report, made public last Friday, notes a lack of consensus on the vision submitted by the city and a lack of information in terms of probative data and important issues such as transportation, the protection of threatened species, flooding and the evolution of pending environmental legislation.
The report was based on public hearings about the future use of a section of land in Pierrefonds West, which had been tagged for residential development in a 2004 urban development plan. The plan, updated in 2015, included the need for an urban boulevard to be constructed along the unused Highway 440 servitude from Gouin Blvd. to Highway 40 in Kirkland.
The area targeted for construction covers about 185 hectares, while a conservation zone extending to L’Anse-à-l’Orme nature park covers 181 hectares, according to the OCPM.
The proposed development plan featured more than 5,000 new units, including affordable housing and condominiums, as well as shopping areas and parks.
Last year, the Sauvons L’Anseà-L’Orme lobby group presented a petition calling for the protection of 100 per cent of the area — now zoned for residential use. It would take political will to acquire this land outright. Conservationists have suggested various options from expropriation, to rezoning, to applying environmental-protection laws.
While the OCPM report slams the city over the process it followed during the past decade, it recommends that the planning exercise already underway for the sector continue in order to collectively determine the area’s vocation.
The OCPM recommends the borough/city follow a process that involves all stakeholders, including citizens and environmental organizations, and that it present different scenarios ranging from protecting the territory as a whole to various ratios of protection mixed with real estate development.
The OCPM report, while favourable to the cause of conservationists, still leaves the door open for the city to revisit the development option. Both sides of the debate continue to stand firm.
It’s interesting to note the OCPM report was released at the start of a municipal election campaign, with citizens heading to the polls Nov. 5.
Will the report have any bearing on the outcome of results in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough?
Incumbent borough mayor Jim Beis of Équipe Denis Coderre is facing off against Vrai changement pour Montreal’s Justine McIntyre, the outgoing city councillor for the Bois-de-Liesse District.
Perhaps the battle for borough mayor can serve as an unofficial referendum on the future of the Pierrefonds West sector.
Heading into the OCPM consultation meetings this spring, Beis told the Montreal Gazette the idea was to come up with a vision before moving forward with a particular planning program. He said future hearings on any actual construction project would only take place after a special planning program for this L’Anse-à-l’Orme area was adopted by the borough and then approved by Montreal.
While the timeline has to be adjusted based on the OCPM recommendations, the process to consider a development project proposed by a would-be promoter can now be restarted and remains on the table for future debate.