The borough of Outremont says received enough signatures on a registry Thursday to require a referendum on a zoning change that would prohibit houses of worship from opening on Bernard Ave.
A minimum of 367 signatures was needed on the Bernard Ave. registry to trigger a referendum, and it reached that number, the borough said late Thursday. A similar registry for Laurier Ave., which required 176 signatures, received only four and so the zoning change will go ahead there.
Outremont borough council recently adopted a controversial bylaw that would restrict the opening of new synagogues, mosques and churches to an industrial area in the northwest part of the borough. The area is near railway tracks.
The bylaw was first passed in December of 2015, but public consultations on the bylaw had to be held a second time because of errors with some of the maps the borough had produced.
