The Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, wants to put an end to new residential complexes that grow in areas without sewers and without aqueduct. It gives itself five years to review the way of thinking about the development of the territory.
In an interview, Mr.me Laforest says that when he arrived at the ministry in 2018, he was told that Quebec had a maintenance deficit of $ 39 billion in water and aqueduct pipes. “We realized that instead of repairing our basement, we often built new infrastructure elsewhere. Schools were added elsewhere and new water infrastructures were brought in. »
“It doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “Cities need to plan their territory. This is the objective she is aiming for with the National Architecture and Spatial Planning Policy (PNAAT), the implementation plan of which was made public on Monday.
This unveiling is the latest milestone in a process launched two and a half years ago to review the Land Use Planning and Development Act (LAU), a 43-year-old regime. By revising it, the government wants to subject it to new principles of urban development such as densification. He gives himself until 2027 to implement it.
“The ultimate goal is that by 2042, Quebec will be a leader in land use planning and architecture,” the document reads.
Climatic changes
One of the key measures of the plan consists of getting cities to adopt “climate plans”. These plans should target local sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and plan measures to adapt to climate change.
This component of the plan inherits the lion’s share of the implementation budget, namely $240 million out of the $360 million planned over five years.
The architecture is also taken into account in a series of measures. In particular, the government wants public construction contracts to aim for “greater architectural quality”.
As mentioned above, the ministry also wants to “supervise” real estate developments on the outskirts of cities in sectors not served by water and sewer networks. The plan regrets that these developments are only framed by “minimum standards” which do not take into account the “cumulative effect” of these projects on drinking water and the contamination of natural environments.
Cities need to plan their territory
To achieve this, the government will reward “good deeds”, explains Ms.me Laforest. Thus, cities that adopt exemplary practices will be entitled to greater subsidies when the time comes to renovate their underground pipes, assistance that can amount to up to 95% of the bill.
In the interview, we feel that Mme Laforest doesn’t really like the term “urban sprawl”. She specifies that she especially has a problem with projects that develop in areas without underground infrastructure. Conversely, the Minister says she sees nothing wrong with building houses on the outskirts, along a highway where there are already aqueducts and sewers.
At the time when her government was still defending the road tunnel project between Quebec and Lévis, the minister often had to justify the apparent contradictions between her policy project and the third link.
new powers
The new logic advocated by the Minister has already begun to permeate the laws. At the beginning of June, the government adopted Bill 16 to “transform the way we live in our territory”.
This new law is already a game-changer. Thus, the minister now has the power to “prevent the construction of a new district” if there is not enough water available to meet all needs, a problem that has already arisen in the past.
The new Act respecting land use planning and development gives municipal councils the power to approve certain densification projects without exposing themselves to referendums.
It will be easier for them, for example, to allow the construction of accessory dwelling units in private homes (such as the addition of a tiny house on a lot). Elected officials will also be able to more easily introduce various forms of zoning incentives. For example, a developer can build higher if he agrees to include a given number of social housing units in his project.