Hope is beginning to fade for Dorval Municipal Golf course

While several people called for the preservation of the Dorval Municipal Golf course during Monday’s council meeting, a sympathetic mayor Edgar Rouleau didn’t provide much hope that the city could halt the airport authority’s plans to reclaim this land for redevelopment.

Citizens said the golf course is a significant green space for the city and that they don’t want to see it redeveloped by Aéroports de Montréal, which owns the land.

Rouleau, however, said municipal zoning bylaws are superseded because ADM is a federal agency and the golf course is part of the Trudeau International Airport territory. About a decade ago, the city lost a legal battle with ADM over zoning its land for the Golf Dorval course and it would be pointless to pursue such an avenue to save the Dorval Municipal Golf course from being bulldozed after the coming season, the mayor said.

Though he hasn’t yet given up all hope, Rouleau told a resident that ADM is like a big business and it doesn’t necessarily have a big heart.

The mayor, who sits on the board of directors of Dorval Municipal Golf, said a committee has been struck which will help transfer its club members to use the nearby Dorval Golf Club, which has a payas- you- play setup.

“We are working to find a package solution so that the Dorval Municipal golfers will go to Golf Dorval, some kind of membership,” he said. “So the players will be able to play golf ( in Dorval).”

Last month, the mayor was notified that ADM would not renew its lease with the city to use the Dorval Municipal Golf course property once it expires in 2016.

Part of the golf course lot is to be set aside for a potential new commuter train service, while another portion might be used for a distribution centre.

ADM, which runs the airport under federal authority, owns the land used by both the Dorval Municipal Golf Club just off of Cardinal Ave. on the southwest end of the airport, and Golf Dorval, off of Reverchon Ave. on the northwest side.