{"id":15868,"date":"2014-07-30T07:17:02","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T11:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/?p=15868"},"modified":"2014-07-29T13:29:52","modified_gmt":"2014-07-29T17:29:52","slug":"neighbours-unhappy-de-leglise-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/neighbours-unhappy-de-leglise-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbours unhappy about de L\u2019Eglise project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Verdun\u2019s urban planning committee (CCU) has approved the latest project for the de l\u2019Eglise lot south of Edna where the Hollywood Caf\u00e9 used to be, but neighbours aren\u2019t happy.<\/p>\n

The neighbours are not against building something there, but this project looks horrible,\u201d says Michel Laberge, who lives in a circa-1942 home next to the lot. \u201cThere are nine parking spots in the back: 7 for the 13 condo owners and two for the commercial property. People are already driving around and around this street trying to park. On the top of the building, there\u2019s going to be 21 motors. That\u2019s going to be really noisy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The lot with notice about what’s to be built.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Parking frustrations and noise are only two of the many reasons Laberge cites against the four-storey mixed-use building. He says he\u2019s worried that construction of the new building will shift his dry foundation. He paid for an engineer\u2019s report to make sure that doesn\u2019t happen, but he\u2019s not hopeful it will be respected. Laberge wishes he could have left the neighbourhood before all this began, but an earlier project that included buying his property and the owner of another property nearby was refused by Verdun last October.<\/p>\n

There have been at least six projects proposed for the lot, but this is the first time neighbours have been consulted. Laberge says that any of the earlier ones would have been better than this one.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the only person who thinks so. Sixteen other neighbours participated in the June 25 consultation and those who spoke condemned the latest project. In addition to the potential noise and parking difficulties, they worry that the height and size of the new building will block their sun and interfere with their privacy.<\/p>\n

Some were frustrated that the borough consultation process doesn\u2019t give them any say over the project conception. Afterwards, they all had questions about how the register process works.<\/p>\n

A few days later, lot owner Chrystos Karantounis, the owner of Zappy\u2019s Pizza, showed me the first four versions of his plans for the lot. The first project was proposed on June 23, 2011 and including eight condominiums, six parking spots and an 80-child daycare. A month later, there were new windows on the side wall of the commercial space and the addition of a land-coverage figure (49.5%). In September that year, the old Hollywood Caf\u00e9 was demolished and new plans were sent to the city. By January, 2012, plans dropped to include only six condos and five parking spots.<\/p>\n

I argued with that curly-haired guy they got rid of,\u201d said Karantounis. \u201cHe made me change so many things, that\u2019s why I lose so much money. I\u2019m tired. I give up.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the end, the entire plan was scrapped because Karantounis couldn\u2019t get a daycare permit. \u201cTwo times I try to make the garderie, but I didn\u2019t get the permit because my name\u2019s not Tremblay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing happened for a few months, until Karantounis was contacted by Claude Lachance and Nathan Bedock from GCA cr\u00e9ateurs immobiliers. In addition to being developers, Lachance and Bedock are members of the Fondation du d\u00e9veloppement local de Verdun.<\/p>\n

Karantounis paid for the old Hollywood Caf\u00e9 structure to be demolished in May 2012. The project damaged Laberge\u2019s roof and left spaces in his adjoining wall. Karantounis fixed the roof and insulated the outside wall and then handed the project over to Lachance and Bedock. They\u2019ve handled all submissions to the city about the project in the last year.<\/p>\n

When everything is done, I will sell it to the developer,\u201d said Karantounis. \u201cThey do the job, but I don\u2019t want to get involved with the construction. I\u2019m in the restaurant business. What do I know about construction?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lachance and Bedock got approval for\u00a0a project with a much larger footprint than Karantounis\u2019 plans, but they had hoped it would be even larger.<\/p>\n

Last October, they made conditional deals to buy out Laberge and his next door neighbour to develop the entire corner. Both owners accepted, but Verdun\u2019s CCU rejected the plan. The borough considers Laberge\u2019s home, which dates from 1897, an important heritage site. (Note: Montreal\u2019s tax rolls show Laberge\u2019s home as being built in 1942, which would make the structure significantly younger than it is. The tax roll date stems from a zone change made on September 8, 1945 that allowed a small addition to the back of the property.)<\/p>\n

The current project has been accepted by the CCU. It contains 13 condo units plus a commercial space that occupies 68.89% of the property. It is one storey higher than current bylaws allow and also doesn\u2019t meet requirements for number of parking spaces, garage door heights, exterior access to the property or the architectural requirement to harmonize with the district.<\/p>\n

Neighbours who object can petition for a referendum in mid-August. If twelve people from each of the six zones sign, a register for a referendum will take place early in September.<\/p>\n

For more information about the site, refer to the original project notice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Note: This story appeared on the first page of the city edition of the Suburban on Wednesday, July 23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Verdun\u2019s urban planning committee (CCU) has approved the latest project for the de l\u2019Eglise lot south of Edna where the Hollywood Caf\u00e9 used to be, but neighbours aren\u2019t happy. The neighbours are not against building something there, but this project looks horrible,\u201d says Michel Laberge, who lives in a circa-1942 home next to the lot. […]<\/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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verdunposts","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-47W","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":591,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/verdun-invites-comments-about-densification-in-wellington-de-leglise-sector\/","url_meta":{"origin":15868,"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":17581,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/metro-bellemare\/","url_meta":{"origin":15868,"position":1},"title":"March 14 Register for Referendum about Metro Bellemare","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"March 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"On March 14,\u00a0from 9 a.m. until 7\u00a0p.m., 249 citizens living close to the \u00a0Bellemare grocery store development in Verdun asked for a referendum about the project. Now the borough has to hold a referendum that they are likely to lose or the developer has to pull the project and perhaps\u00a0submit\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":"Metro Bellemare plans re register","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/metro-projet-verdun.png?fit=635%2C357&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/metro-projet-verdun.png?fit=635%2C357&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/metro-projet-verdun.png?fit=635%2C357&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18717,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/last-week-march-2018-verdun\/","url_meta":{"origin":15868,"position":2},"title":"This week in Verdun: land decontamination possible, garbage contract cancelled, another good restaurant","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"March 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Verdun was in the news many times during the last week of March\u00a02018. 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Gaetan\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\/IsabelleMelancon-1.png?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16267,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/january-council-meeting\/","url_meta":{"origin":15868,"position":3},"title":"January Council Meeting Roundup","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"February 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"During the January meeting of Verdun\u2019s borough council, citizens asked about road repair, snow clearing, traffic lights, green lanes, the bridge to Nun\u2019s Island, the potential beach, vandalism in the Metro, and the contamination at the ecological golf course and dark sky measures on Nun\u2019s Island. 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