The maximum height of buildings in the future Lachine-Est eco-district should be limited to eight floors, not fifteen, estimates the Office de consultation publique de Montréal in a report made public on Wednesday. The organization is of the opinion that the City should also provide more schools within the perimeter of the site which, in time, could have up to 7,400 dwellings.
Lachine-Est covers an area of 60 hectares located along the Lachine Canal and near Old Lachine. This is an industrial sector in decline that the City wants to develop in order to create an eco-neighbourhood comprising housing, shops and places of employment. Of the 7,400 housing units envisaged, 1,200 would be social housing and between 500 and 600 would be affordable housing. Green spaces and parks should occupy 22% of the area of the site to be developed.
During consultations held last spring, the Office was confronted with two opposing visions. On the one hand, citizens argued that the maximum heights proposed in the Special Planning Program (PPU), i.e. fifteen storeys, were not compatible with the idea of a neighborhood “on a human scale” and in break with surrounding areas. For their part, the owners and promoters have instead demanded higher heights, up to 20 stories, in order to ensure the profitability of the projects given the considerable costs associated with the decontamination of the land.
However, the OCPM recommends limiting heights to a maximum of eight storeys “so as to protect the view of the Lachine Canal and the dimensions in the neighboring districts, while pursuing the objective of densification on a human scale”.
Despite the recommendation of the OCPM, the mayor of the borough of Lachine, Maja Vodanovic, does not rule out the possibility that 15-storey towers will be authorized in certain places on the site, in particular alongside the Canadian Railway. Pacific (CP). “But it will not be given automatically,” she warns.
contaminated land
The borough thus intends to put in place a mechanism to maintain control over future development, but the elected official agrees that the decontamination of the land is an important issue for developers. “For some, decontamination will cost between 20 and 30 million. The cost is substantial. But I want to prove that we can build something good on wastelands inside Montreal so that we don’t develop in forests and agricultural lands around [de la ville]. »
The project also provides for the construction of an elementary school on land acquired by the City along Victoria Street. This land will also house a sports and community centre. However, the Office considers that the City must already assess the need to build another primary school and a secondary school.
Maja Vodanovic agrees that other land could be required for schools, but such acquisitions are costly for the City, which must also assume responsibility for soil decontamination, she points out. This issue is also part of the demands made by Mayor Plante during the provincial election campaign. Like other Quebec cities, Montreal wants Quebec to assume the cost of purchasing the land needed to build schools.
Public transport
The issue of public transport is also considered crucial for the creation of an eco-district. The PPU mentions a “structuring mode of transport” in the axis of Victoria Street to connect Lachine-Est to downtown Montreal, but it does not specify which type of transport is preferred. The Office therefore recommends that the City take the necessary steps for this project to see the light of day.
On this subject, Maja Vodanovic recalls that the Government of Quebec has already promised an amount of $800 million for a link to the city center after Montreal had consented to the City of Quebec using its share of federal funds for its tram. What Mayor Vodanovic hopes is that the tram option between Lachine and downtown will be retained.
In its report, the OCPM also addresses the issue of heritage. Several buildings and infrastructures testifying to the industrial past are still present in this sector. During the consultations, promoters expressed concern about the “museumification” of certain buildings considered to be of heritage interest.
The recommendation made by the Office focuses instead on the route of the Promenade des Sulpiciens, which risks reducing the size of the blocks located south of boulevard Saint-Joseph and will make it difficult to plan a complex.
Maja Vodanovic warns that construction work to develop the Lachine-Est site could take 20 years. Several steps will also have to be taken before the first buildings can see the light of day. The land will first have to be decontaminated and equipped with water and sewer infrastructure, she said.