Urban densification | “Not in my backyard” in Saint-Lambert?

A major real estate project is in jeopardy

Maxime Bergeron
The Press

The issue of urban densification comes to the fore in the wealthy suburb of Saint-Lambert. The new administration will file a draft zoning bylaw on Monday evening that could jeopardize the completion of a 1,135-unit complex valued at $500 million, learned The Press. Promoters cry out for the “not in my backyard” syndrome.

“The City of Saint-Lambert is acting completely contrary to sustainable development, it’s totally irresponsible,” fulminates Philippe Bernard, co-president and founder of Pur Immobilia.

His company concluded agreements in 2021 to redevelop two of the last lands available in Saint-Lambert: that of the Dare biscuit factory and that of the former hardware store Materials Coupal (Rona). The group hopes to build a series of three to eight-storey buildings near the train station, as well as local shops and several green spaces.

The complex respects the beacons of the special urban planning project (PPU) proposed by the former administration in 2021, with a view to requalifying this industrial sector which is rather gray. The new mayor Pascale Mongrain and her team, however, fear too much densification and will take concrete measures to turn the tide.

They will propose two motions at the municipal council meeting on Monday evening to thoroughly revise the urban plan and the zoning regulations for the entire municipality. The City will be able to “govern, in each zone, land use, in particular by prohibiting or authorizing constructions and uses”, indicates a draft of the document obtained by The Press.

Without going into details, Mayor Mongrain said in an interview that the city’s proposals would represent a “compromise” between the developer’s aims and what the current residents of the neighborhood are ready to accept.

“In our redesign project, we went with a certain densification. Will it suit Pur Immobilia? We don’t know,” says M.^me Mongrain.

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The showdown that is taking shape in Saint-Lambert comes as the issue of urban sprawl – and the densification necessary to limit it – occupies a central place in Quebec news. Transport Minister François Bonnardel claimed in April that densification was a “fad”, a startling statement that caused the mayors of several major cities to form a united front in the pages of The Press last week.

Beyond the choice of vocabulary, the question raises its share of concrete issues in several Quebec cities. Should we build higher or lower buildings on the scarce land available? Include social housing in each project, and if so, how many? What place should be reserved for parks and other community services?

A few kilometers from Saint-Lambert, in the Montreal sector of Bridge-Bonaventure, these questions have been clashing with a bang for several weeks. The administration of Valérie Plante proposes to erect 3,800 housing units there (including 1,270 social ones), while property developers would like at least 12,000. They fear an underutilization of these 2.3 km of land.^⁠2 strategically located, among the last available near the city center.

Pur Immobilia fears a similar scenario in Saint-Lambert. Philippe Bernard fears that the City will opt for the minimum density currently required in this sector, i.e. 60 dwellings per hectare – very far from what his group proposes. “The new administration wants to cut 80% of this project, literally,” he says. We would go from a project of 1135 housing units to 225 housing units, on the two plots in total. »

Such a reduction would render the project unviable, he claims, especially since “millions” will have to be invested to decontaminate the two industrial sites totaling 61,000 square meters. The developer does not mince his words about the position of the City and the citizens fiercely opposed to the site. “It’s the classic ‟not in my backyard”. »

Concerned citizens

The fact remains that the Pur Immobilia project has raised very real concerns among local residents since its announcement in May 2021. It even became one of the central themes of the municipal campaign last fall.

Many fear an explosion of car traffic in the Saint-Charles sector, landlocked by a railway line where dozens of trains pass every day. Others are worried about the disappearance of on-street parking spaces, the overuse of obsolete underground infrastructure, or the shade that will be generated by buildings. Some would finally prefer that the land make way for a school and a daycare center – two services that are lacking in the city of 22,000 inhabitants.

Lambertois Karl Villeneuve, who tried to be elected mayor last year, believes that the work has been done “backwards” in the conversion of this industrial sector. “We want to densify, but we have nothing to support [ce projet] in terms of infrastructure, CPEs, schools and traffic. »

The file is extremely sensitive for Mayor Mongrain, who has been in office for six months. She recognizes that urban redevelopment is “the hottest issue in Quebec” and believes that “densification is part of the equation”. But finding the right balance will be tricky in his city where (big) houses with swimming pools take center stage.

“It’s over, the idea of ​​building cottages with nice big backyards,” she says. We must allow more height, but we are sensitive to the considerations of our citizens. We don’t want to build 15 or 20-storey towers. »

The elected official recognizes in the same breath that Saint-Lambert must at all costs increase its sources of income. The municipality demerged from Longueuil in 2006 while continuing to pay a large share to the agglomeration. She has no heavy industry to line her coffers; most of its revenue comes from already high residential property taxes. The infrastructures are cracking everywhere at a time when the City is on the edge of the financial abyss, summarizes the mayor.

The Pur Immobilia group is very aware of this reality and estimates the benefits of its project for the City in the coming years at tens of millions of dollars. Mayor Mongrain reiterates for her part that Saint-Lambert will make “densification compromises”, but “not to please a promoter”. Neither the Pur Immobilia project nor the PPU for the Saint-Charles sector was approved by the previous administration, she said.

Citizens will be able to vote over the next few months on the new zoning and urban planning rules that will be proposed by the City. Pascale Mongrain hopes that all the steps will have been taken with a view to their adoption by the end of 2022.