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 a revised version for consideration again.<\/p>\n
The process wasn’t easy and if Quebec Bill 122 goes through, this will be among the last times\u00a0it happens.<\/p>\n
This was a great example in which local\u00a0government officials set up a city development project that went beyond what local citizens can stand. Locals are always concerned that a project fits in with its neighbours. They care that unit costs within a development aren’t too high, that parking remains available, and that traffic isn’t worsened. Developers and city officials are concerned with increasing the density in a region, building higher-priced units that generate more tax dollars and “beautifying” neighbourhoods, which almost always means gentrification.<\/p>\n
With this project, the borough of Verdun was very happy with the project they negotiated, which expands a beloved grocery story and creates rental units rather than condos. Several proposed units are large enough to accommodate families, a big need in Verdun. The developer has also offered to contribute $150,000 to build social housing.<\/p>\n
Neighbours were not happy at all. The worried about the potential traffic and parking headaches that the four-storey 67-unit mixed use building will generate. They know that the grocery store parking lot will be frequently used, but the major street next to it is one-way, so anyone who visits the store will have to leave by the smaller residential streets. There’s also a school right across the street from Metro Bellemare, so it will be\u00a0children negotiating passage through the traffic. Parking is already difficult.<\/p>\n
To try to lessen the project’s impact, residents living on \u00a0Claude, de l’Eglise, Evelyn, Galt, Gertrude, Gordon, Hickson, Joseph and Verdun had to negotiate a byzantine process that included verifying via a\u00a0formal legal notice<\/a>\u00a0whether they had the right to participate. If they did, they went\u00a0to Verdun borough hall, 4555, rue de Verdun, Salle du conseil, local 205, to sign a register for a referendum about the project. If they didn’t, they’re still annoyed.<\/p>\n Developer Robert Bellemare\u00a0had things even tougher. He faced criticism, graffitti and hate while trying to present the positive sides of his project. He’s already spent a year negotiating with the borough’s local development committee. Then he spent several\u00a0months trying to win over critics. His latest attempt occurred the morning of the register\u00a0according to Radio Canada<\/a>. That move was to\u00a0create a citizen consultation committee to ensure his grocery store expansion is done in such a way that they will approve. There were other changes too, but according to my colleague\u2019s story<\/a>, they weren\u2019t sufficient to keep residents from signing the register.<\/p>\n The borough also faced lots of criticism during the project, especially after the Mayor told the developer which zones they opened, allowing him to open additional spots and raise the number of residents who had to sign the register. (See this story in the Metro<\/a>\u00a0and this one\u00a0on\u00a0Radio-Canada<\/a>).<\/p>\n In the end, 249 people of the\u00a02,294 who live near the project signed the register. This was just a few more than the 243 people that were required . The borough can now hold a referendum about the project or the developer can pull the project, make the changes citizens demand\u00a0and resubmit the project to the city again.<\/p>\n As tough as the process is for everyone involved, its advantage is that it keeps neighbourhood development in the hands of the citizens who live there. Everyone would prefer something easier. On the ground, citizens say they should be involved earlier in the process, when a project developer is beginning to present his project to the borough.<\/p>\n Quebec’s provincial government has a different idea. They prefer to remove all citizen clout entirely with\u00a0Bill 122. If it goes through, citizens will have no say over what happens in their neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 a revised version for consideration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17582,"comment_status":"closed","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":[10,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-that-matter","category-verdunposts","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-4zz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2834,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/consultations-in-august-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":17581,"position":0},"title":"Important Zone Bylaw Consultations in August","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"August 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Two months ago, Verdun residents stopped a proposed bylaw change that would have increased the allowed height and density of buildings on the former site of the old CKVL\/CKOI radio station and in the entire neighbourhood east and west of Gordon Street. The borough plans to hold a consultation for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Island Report"","block_context":{"text":"Island Report","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/island-report\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Verdun Riding","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Verdunsmall.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1490,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/montreal-municipal-court-moved-from-verdun-to-lasalle\/","url_meta":{"origin":17581,"position":1},"title":"Montreal Municipal Court Being Moved from Verdun to LaSalle","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"February 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Unless LaSalle residents choose to ask for a referendum on the project, the municipal court will be moved from Verdun to LaSalle sometime in the next five years. \u201cI understand that the building they\u2019re in now is not big enough,\u201d said LaSalle Mayor Manon Barbe during the consultation about the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LaSalle"","block_context":{"text":"LaSalle","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/lasalleposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16659,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/november_zoning_changes\/","url_meta":{"origin":17581,"position":2},"title":"November zoning changes in Verdun","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"November 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The borough of Verdun has three\u00a0zoning changes currently underway this month: one for a condos with commercial spaces on the lot at the corner of Godin and Bannantyne, another for the seniors' hospice next to the Circus School, and a third for the demolition of two boarded-up triplexes on Lesage.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Verdun"","block_context":{"text":"Verdun","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/verdunposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19480,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/consulting-residents-prior-to-development\/","url_meta":{"origin":17581,"position":3},"title":"Consulting Residents Prior to Development","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"February 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Last weekend, the mayors of Lachine and Verdun tested new ways to determine how neighbourhoods get created. Each consulted local experts and residents prior to creating plans for new development. Their methods differed, but if either or both methods work to make residents comfortable and attached to new projects, municipal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Island Report"","block_context":{"text":"Island Report","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/island-report\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Verdun Urban Design Charette","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/20190224_154611.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/20190224_154611.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/20190224_154611.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/20190224_154611.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/20190224_154611.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2276,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/summer-consultation-frenzy\/","url_meta":{"origin":17581,"position":4},"title":"Summer Consultation Frenzy","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"June 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Borough councils rush to approve condos, change zones, demolish buildings, and establish three-year capital expenditure plans before the fall election. Citizens interested in budgets, zoning bylaws, land use or heritage in Montreal will have a busy time over the next month. Almost every borough has held, or plans to hold,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Island Report"","block_context":{"text":"Island Report","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/island-report\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"5359-5363Verdun","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/5359-5363Verdun.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16287,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/lasalle-development-feb16\/","url_meta":{"origin":17581,"position":5},"title":"Three LaSalle deadlines this week","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"February 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There are three deadlines this week, February 16, for citizens interested in LaSalle development. 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