A waterview condominium project being proposed for Aumais St. and Gouin Blvd. will be the subject of a public consultation at the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough council meeting March 3.
Developer Oren Vered is proud of the flat-roofed, modern design, which features 60 units (reduced from a previously proposed 62 units) over four floors without a mezzanine.
“I think we have come up with a quality design,” Vered said.
Pierrefonds-Roxboro resident Martha Bond does not agree and has been an outspoken critic of the proposed project since its first incarnation almost two years ago.
She described the latest design as “ugly” and is calling for residents to speak out against the project at the coming meeting.
Michel Desilets lives across the street from the proposed condo site. He was dead-set against the first two designs Vered presented, but loves the four-storey version.
“It’s too bad people who don’t even live on the street are speaking out against the project,” Desilets said. “I agree that the first designs were too tall, but the building he proposes now has a beautiful look and will enhance the neighbourhood. And he has included nice green spaces.”
A triplex and a machine shop would be demolished to make room for the build.
The project has gone through a number of changes over almost two years of public and borough consultation. The original plan was for two eight-storey buildings with 132 units. The public pushed back and that plan was scrapped, as was a six-storey version.
Bond is worried there will be commercial space on the ground level and that the plan does not include enough parking for commercial traffic.
“If there is commercial space in the plan, I become a landlord,” Vered said. “I am not interested in becoming a landlord. I’m a developer. Once it is built, I hand over the keys to the (condo board). They decide how the building will be administered.”
Another of Bond’s concerns is that Vered’s company will go bankrupt and the site will be left in a shambles as she said happened to another project — not one of Vered’s — on the corner of Rive Boisée Rd. and Gouin Blvd. W.
“We aren’t playing tricks. There is no hidden agenda,” Vered said. The Vered family “has been in this business since the 1960s. This is not a project we will walk away from. It’s a beautiful location with a water view in a quiet neighbourhood.”
The Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough council will consider a series of bylaw modifications needed to move the project forward at the March 3 meeting. The public consultation begins at the borough hall, 13665 Pierrefonds Blvd., at 6:30 p.m.
kgreenaway@montrealgazette.com