Citizens of Saint-Michel are fighting so that a real estate project does not transform their neighborhood into a “food desert” by replacing a low-cost grocery store that served their area.
“Nearby, there is nothing left to do your grocery shopping,” laments François Jobin, who frequented the Esposito Market a lot.
The latter closed its doors in 2020, forcing its customers to turn to other supermarkets, all located at least 850 m away, with the exception of a few small shops such as greengrocers.
For this disadvantaged neighborhood where many travel on foot, it’s a hard blow, thinks Mr. Jobin, when there was a grocery store there since 1958.
“It was the cheapest grocery store around,” he continues.
Since then, the man who lives on a low income and does not have a car has to take the bus to buy groceries elsewhere.
“I pay $30 more per week. It pisses me off! »
It was the promoter Mondev who acquired the land. He obtained the approval of the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough for a 105-unit project.
With the loss of this supermarket, the area has become a “food desert”, says resident Chloé Baillargeon.
According to the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec, a food desert in an urban area is present when a disadvantaged sector does not offer food shops within a radius of 1 km.
A petition launched
Mme Baillargeon has launched a petition that has collected more than 500 names since the grocery store closed, asking the borough to keep local businesses in this location.
She calls on citizens to attend the public consultation on the project on April 14 to ask the borough to rethink the project with the promoter.
Others intend to ask that the project include social housing, while the promoter has paid compensation to the City for not including it.
“The proximity of our shops, we hear a lot of people say that we have to think of our neighborhoods like that,” she explains. It goes completely against that idea. »
Promoter disagrees
Michael Owen, owner of Mondev, maintains that it is not possible to integrate a grocery store in this type of project, because it would require at least eight floors according to him. A derogation has already been granted to him so that his project reaches four floors.
He doesn’t believe the neighborhood has become a food wasteland and believes residents “have found solutions” ever since.
For Laurence Lavigne-Lalonde, mayor of the borough, the latter “does not have the tools to respond to the frustration of citizens”, because he could not require that it be a grocery store.
If she had been mayor at the time, she would have insisted that social housing be included in the project. In addition, the borough is in discussion with a developer interested in opening a grocery store in the area, according to the mayor.