The project to tear down the old Notre-Dame-Lourdes school on Pie-X in Chomedey and build a four-storey 67-unit social housing complex is one step closer to reality.
We learned this morning that the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ) has reserved 67 units for a project on Pix X,” said Nicholas Borne, earlier this month.
Borne serves as city councillor for the Laval-les-Îles district and is also president of his city’s housing authority, the Office municipal d’habitation de Laval.
We’ve rezoned the area for four storeys and we’ve been waiting for news because as you know, the news for the SHQ in the last budget wasn’t good. Despite those budget cuts, our project is still a priority.”
Borne credits Guy Ouellett, MNA for Chomedey with the decision to ensure that the $11.3 million project happens. The estimate includes more than $200,000 to tear down the old school.
Now that the funding hurdle has been overcome, he says there are three more challenges to getting the new building underway and functioning well. He says that he and others want to ensure that the project gets underway as soon as possible so that it can house who are currently living in mold-contaminated buildings.
Many of them don’t want to move.
We are trying to rehouse people who are living in residences with mold, but they don’t want to leave,” said Borne. “We want them to leave and we have other apartments for them to move into, but they say that they’re not sick, so they don’t want to leave.”
Local neighbours are also resisting the project, because they are unhappy with its proposed height. Resident Nicole Provost presented a petition with 109 signatures to city council in February. She and the other people who signed are asking that the new building to be no higher than two storeys so that it will fit in with pre-existing structures in the neighbourhood.
Their request will not be respected.
This project isn’t viable at less than four storeys high,” said Borne. “You have to understand that because this project is a PPU, there is no right to a referendum. We have to inform people, but they can’t ask for a register for a referendum.”
The Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation will also have some say over the project, since they hold a mortgage on the property. Borne expects that hurdle to be easily overcome now that funding from the Province has come through.
Despite the need to negotiate with residents, neighbours and a landlord, Borne is confident that ground-breaking for the new building will take place in 2016.
He’s working with his team to make sure that architectural plans are completed by the end of 2015 to ensure that happens.
Note: This story appeared on page 1 of the Laval version of The Suburban on April 8, 2015.
