Senneville condo project continues to spark debate

The battle is back on.

Senneville council has adopted the zoning amendments required to allow the construction of the proposed Boisé Pearson condominium project and those opposed to the 68-unit build are poised to request a register. Again.

During an information session last week, the details of the proposed project were revisited, the zoning amendments detailed and the register/referendum procedure explained. The amendments were adopted Monday.

At least 12 signatures are required to successfully launch a register. At least 58 signatures are required on the register to launch a referendum.

If enough people sign the register, council decides whether to launch a costly referendum or drop the zoning amendments.

The future of the triangle of land off Boulevard des AnciensCombattants has been rigorously debated for 25 years.

When developer Jacques Belisle purchased the property, the plan was to build luxury single-family homes, but the council at the time wanted the wetland and 80 per cent of the woodland conserved.

So in June, 2017 Belisle and

urban developer Marc Perreault presented residents with a plan for a four-building, 226 unit condo project. The feedback was negative, so the developer was asked to reduce the size of the project.

In July, 2017 a reduced plan for 126 units and two, four-storey buildings was presented.

Residents living in contiguous zones requested a register. Twelve signatures were required to launch a register. Council received 94.

The zoning amendments were dropped and the land remained zoned for single-family homes.

A new council was voted in Nov. 5, 2017 and took over the file.

Last month, Belisle and Perreault presented a new project which has 68 units in two, threestorey buildings tucked into the bottom, narrow part of the triangle with 80 per cent of the woodland conserved and a buffer zone

protecting the wetlands.

“This proposal is the closest we can get to preserving this wooded area without having to purchase it,” Mayor Julie Brisebois said in an email.

Martin Gauthier’s home backs onto the Boisé Pearson property.

He has opposed the project from the outset.

STUDIES REQUESTED

Two weeks ago Gauthier and other like-minded citizens sent a letter to the mayor and council requesting “comprehensive and independent” environmental, hydrology, economic-impact and traffic studies be done so that residents could “make informed decisions to ensure a sound future for our community.”

In an email exchange Brisebois said that certain studies had already been provided by the developer, including the environmental characterization of the site and a traffic study.

The mayor said that if the project gets the green light, the developer will have to submit additional environmental, traffic circulation and mitigation, water management, drainage and infrastructure studies which will be done by experts and verified by the municipality’s professionals.

And if all the studies came back with acceptable results, would Gauthier change his mind?

“I don’t want any project at all,” Gauthier said. “It should be conserved as it is or turned into a park. Senneville should think of purchasing the land.”

Brisbois said that in 2011, Senneville council did a survey of the population on the question of purchasing the land and it was rejected.