Commercial property owners in Verdun will soon be able demolish heritage buildings in a bad state of repair or at the back of a property without a Site Planning and Architectural Integration (SPAI) review.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this not an invitation to all landlords to stop maintaining their buildings so that they can develop the land for one project or another,\u201d said Gilles Laberge. \u201cThere has not been an inventory of buildings in the back of lots, so I\u2019m surprised that the city is so ready to purge them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The amendment to bylaw 1700-88 was initially presented to Verdun\u2019s urban planning, housing and heritage committee. Ann Guy, Benoit Malette and Pascale Tremblay sit on the committee. Researcher David Lamontagne-M\u00e9tivier was also present at the meeting.<\/p>\n
The public heard about the change during a 15-minute public consultation prior to the last Borough Council Meeting, February 7. Ann Guy was the only elected official who heard resident comments. She and her colleagues passed the bylaw unanimously less than half an hour later. The change takes effect after the city of Montreal approves it, perhaps next month. (The issue doesn\u2019t appear on March agendas for city council, the executive committee nor the agglomeration council.)<\/p>\n
In addition to his comments about owners, Laberge, who is a historian, raised concerns about whether the bylaw amendment would allow the Douglas Institute to tear down an unused root cellar that is one of the last remaining agricultural buildings in Verdun. He didn\u2019t get an answer.<\/p>\n
In a later email to the Suburban, Verdun spokesperson Francine Morin wrote that the borough \u201chas established that no 100% commercially used building on its territory has any heritage value.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also confirmed that the Douglas Institute applied for a permit to tear the root cellar down in 2010, but Verdun\u2019s planning advisory committee refused the request.<\/p>\n
Marie France Coutu, a communications officer with the Douglas Institute, says the organization no longer plans to demolish the circa-1920 building. \u201cIn our mandate, there is no money set aside for heritage buildings, but we are conscious that these buildings have value to the community,\u201d she said. \u201cOur intention is to leave it as it is. It\u2019s locked and secured. We don\u2019t want to get rid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents are relieved that an important Verdun landmark might still be saved, but some still complain about the way Verdun handled the public consultation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can we have faith in our elected officials when they treat us like this,\u201d said Fabiola Renaud. \u201cThey invite us for one subject and when we arrive, they present something different. The avis told us that the Mayor would explain the changes to the bylaw, but he wasn\u2019t even there. Then after they made us work, M. Malette didn\u2019t even have time to tell them what we said before they passed the amendment anyway. They\u2019re laughing at us.\u201d<\/p>\n
(A version of this article appeared on March 14 on page 7 of The Suburban’s City Edition.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Commercial property owners in Verdun will soon be able demolish heritage buildings in a bad state of repair or at the back of a property without a Site Planning and Architectural Integration (SPAI) review. \u201cIs this not an invitation to all landlords to stop maintaining their buildings so that they can develop the land for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,10,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-worth-remembering","category-politics-that-matter","category-verdunposts","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-1R","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":591,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/verdun-invites-comments-about-densification-in-wellington-de-leglise-sector\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":0},"title":"Verdun Invites Comments about Densification in Wellington de L\u2019Eglise Sector","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"June 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Verdun welcomes citizen comments and memorandums about densifying the Wellington de L\u2019Eglise Sector as part of its master plan today, Wednesday, June 20 at 7 p.m. in the Council Hall on the second floor, 4555 Verdun Street. \u201cI\u2019d encourage you to think outside the box,\u201d said council member Ann Guy,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Verdun"","block_context":{"text":"Verdun","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/verdunposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/homessmall.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2159,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/notre-dame-de-la-paix-demolition\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":1},"title":"Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix Demolition, Nun’s Island School Construction","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"June 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Verdun plans to demolish Notre Dame de la Paix church and build school on Nun\u2019s Island At a special meeting called last May 16, Verdun councillors voted to begin the process to tear down Verdun\u2019s Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix church on 3465, rue Ethel \/ 345, rue Strathmore. They also voted to construct\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Verdun"","block_context":{"text":"Verdun","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/verdunposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"notre_dame_de_paix","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/notre_dame_de_paix.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3193,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/verdun-councillors-active-since-election\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":2},"title":"Verdun Councillors Active Since the Election","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"December 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Borough of Verdun has already held two council meetings since the election, a special one on November 18 and the first regularly scheduled one on Tuesday, December 3. Also last week, several Verdun councillors were appointed by Denis Coderre to sit on Montreal\u2019s executive committee, the agglomeration council, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics That Matter"","block_context":{"text":"Politics That Matter","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/cultural-identity\/politics-that-matter\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1981,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/douglas-hospital\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":3},"title":"Douglas Hospital Wants to Get to Know its Neighbours Better","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"June 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The administration of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute (http:\/\/www.douglas.qc.ca\/?locale=en) in Verdun is planning a wide-spread public consultation next autumn. \u201cWe have two principal objectives in this process: to build a two-way respectful relationship with our neighbours and to get their input on our development,\u201d says Marie France Coutu, Douglas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Verdun"","block_context":{"text":"Verdun","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/verdunposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Douglas Hall","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/douglas-hall-superbe-150x100.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":276,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/verdun-en-transition\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":4},"title":"Verdun en Transition","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"April 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"First Meeting of Verdun en Transition The first public meeting of \u201cVerdun en Transition\u201d took place at the Dawson Community Centre on Tuesday, April 24, 2012. The grassroots initiative aims to build community resilience to climate change and peak oil. \u201cWhy wait until the global crisis in energy, ecology and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Verdun"","block_context":{"text":"Verdun","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/verdunposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/24avril2012_8-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1231,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/verdun-legion-moving\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":5},"title":"Verdun Legion Moving","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"November 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Verdun Islamic Centre Sharing Space until December Last Sunday, November 4 was an emotional day for members of The Royal Canadian Legion\u2019s Branch 4 in Verdun. It was the last time that participants in the annual Verdun Remembrance Day parade could walk from the Cenotaph directly into the Great War\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Verdun"","block_context":{"text":"Verdun","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/verdunposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/VerdunLegion.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/VerdunLegion.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/VerdunLegion.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}