Urbanization is gaining ground in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, where a real estate development plan is creating great tension. After two rulings against it, this Montérégie municipality will authorize the construction of some 380 dwellings at the foot of the mountain, in an area that looks like a rural landscape.
“A gun to the temple and a knife to the throat. That’s really how we felt,” summarizes the mayor, Marc-André Guertin, about this saga which led the City to open the door to the housing estate. Sworn to power last November, Mr. Guertin maintains that, like many residents, he would have liked to protect this sector, but that the decisions of the courts left no room for maneuver to the City.
Known as “Zone A-16”, the sector targeted by the development is located near the intersection of Chemin Ozias-Leduc and Chemin de la Montagne. Covering an area of about forty hectares, it is made up of old orchards, fallow land and two wooded areas and includes a spa and a few residences.
By 1991, this area had been removed from the permanent agriculture zone, and successive mayoralty administrations blocked any housing construction projects. Until the day when, fed up with not being able to do real estate development, five landowners went to the Superior Court to have the municipal by-laws that were putting a spoke in their wheels declared illegal. And they won, not only in the Superior Court, but also in the Court of Appeal. In its decision handed down on November 11, the Court of Appeal gave the City until August 11 to modify its Land Use and Development Plan.
“Bad faith” of the City
The courts ruled that the municipality had shown “bad faith” towards the landowners of zone A-16 and reproached it for having excluded them from the advisory committee set up by ex-mayor Yves Corriveau to support the City in the development of this sector.
After consultation, the municipality last week adopted a special urban planning program (PPU) in order to regulate real estate development. Zone A-16 will be able to accommodate buildings of various sizes, from single-family homes to buildings with a maximum of three floors. The density, of 15 dwellings per hectare, is however lower than that mentioned for years. The City also intends to preserve two wooded areas and create a linear park.
But this territory located at the foot of Mont Saint-Hilaire risks losing its rural character. Residents opposed to the project fear that in addition to destroying natural environments, it will cause major traffic problems. They believe that the City should have demanded a special status for this sector.
“I’ve spent the last six months trying to get myself a magic wand and turning every imaginable stone,” retorted Mayor Guertin. “If we could have done otherwise, we would have done it. This area has a heartfelt place for most people who have visited it. »
This outcome is a disaster in the eyes of actor Marcel Leboeuf. Municipal councilor in the opposition, Marcel Leboeuf had made the preservation of the A-16 zone his hobbyhorse. “I was sworn in on November 12 at 9 a.m. At 9:15 a.m., I learned of the Court of Appeal’s judgment in favor of the owners. Right away, I said to the others: what am I doing here? »
During a consultation meeting on the PPU, last May 24, he launched a cry from the heart in front of his fellow citizens. “I feel completely useless. I tell you: at times, I have trouble sleeping. I eat badly. It’s hard for me,” he said. “There isn’t a day that I don’t wake up thinking I’m quitting. »
Arrived in 2006 after having “fallen in love” with the region, where he bought a house, Marcel Leboeuf subsequently acquired another piece of land – where the former house of the painter Ozias Leduc was located – to create a small vineyard. However, he sold this land when he entered politics in 2021.
“Thirty years of foolishness”
In interview at To have to, Marcel Leboeuf explains that the current situation is attributable to the inertia of previous administrations, which preferred to “shovel snow forward” rather than actually protect the A-16 zone. “Thirty years of foolishness. That’s what we harvest. It’s been thirty years since council to council, mayor to mayor, it’s silly, ”he says, exasperated.
Unable to prevent housing construction, the actor suggested to the mayor to launch a crowdfunding campaign so that the City could buy and protect as much land as possible, which Marc-André Guertin accepted. But according to Mr. Leboeuf, it would have been better for the City to acquire land fifteen years ago rather than being forced today to buy lots at a high price.
He also believes that the City should have requested a special status for zone A-16. As this option was rejected by his elected colleagues, he argues that Quebec may need to intervene. The City, for its part, maintains that zone A-16 does not have the exceptional environmental characteristics that would justify a special status.
Residents were numerous during the consultation session in May to express their opposition to the development plan which will alter the landscape. They also reproached the elected officials for having abdicated. “We thought that finally there would be someone who would go into battle and fight to protect our city. And there, you completely refused to fight, ”launched a Hilairemontais to the elected officials present.