The zoning changes required to accommodate a proposed condo development on Aumais St. and Gouin Blvd. passed a second reading during Pierrefonds-Roxboro’s borough council meeting Monday.
But the process is far from over.
An application for a register can be made within eight days of the March 12 publication of a public notice of the zoning changes and Martha Bond – an outspoken opponent of the project – has said she will do what is necessary to see an application is filed.
“I’m not surprised,” condo developer Oren Vered said about Bond’s next move.
Luc Seguin was a tad less measured in his response. He is just plain frustrated.
Seguin owns a machine shop on the land Vered optioned over two years ago for the project.
If the project does not go through, Seguin has lost years of potential business.
“I thought the condo project was great and I trust Vered,” Seguin said. “I understand that the neighbours did not like the (first design). That’s their democratic right. But if this (four-storey) plan doesn’t pass, I’m done.”
Seguin said he would sell the land for industrial/commercial development.
Over the last two years, the project has been downsized from two eight-storey buildings to one six-storey building to its current design — an L-shaped, four-storey building with 60 units and an underground parking garage.
Bond remains unmoved. “I am against the density of the project,” Bond said.
Any application for register would be presented to the borough council on April 7. If the request is valid, the register would take place May 12.
If enough signatures are gathered, the council can choose to withdraw the zoning changes or launch a borough-wide referendum.
Although opposition to the original design was resounding, Vered believes public opinion has shifted in favour of the four-storey design.
He is not convinced Bond has the support of the citizens who live in the neighbourhood where the condo development would be built.
“She was the only person (at the public consultation) who spoke out against the project,” Vered said.
kgreenaway@montrealgazette.com