Citizens consulted day before council approved 40-unit co-op on boulevard de la Technologie
Sophie Demers
There have been ongoing conversations about the city’s process for development in Gatineau. Residents have long been urging the municipal government to adopt processes that allow neighbors to voice their concerns to developers and stay informed on a project's details.
Another example of the city’s inadequate citizen consultation processes was seen during the October 22 municipal council meeting. The council approved a 4 storey, 40-unit cooperative housing building for the vacant lot at 40 boulevard de la Technologie.
It will be co-op housing, run by the Fédération Intercopérative en Habitation de l’Ouest du Québec (FIHAB). The coops provide at-cost housing for their members. Decisions are made by the members who each have a vote in decisions. There is no outside landlord.
According to Isabelle Miron, councillor for L'Orée-du-Parc where the project will be built, residents were only consulted about the project the day before its approval.
“I organized the meeting because unfortunately in the city we don’t really have an official mechanism to encourage citizens and developers to sit together before the projects are adopted,” said Miron. “I think it’s a loss because this dialogue would allow citizens to react better when they see an upcoming project. It would allow the projects to be better because often citizens have excellent ideas. It’s a shame we don’t have this mechanism.”
Miron states there were about 40 citizens that attended the meeting as well as the developers, and the construction company, BBL construction.
“The meeting went well. When people arrived, they were a little angry, a little worried. But for the most part, when they left, they were reassured. Most of their questions were super legitimate,” said Miron about the public consultation that took place October 21 the day before the October 22nd meeting. “Everyone had a really good attitude and an open mind. The evening was very useful. And once again, it showed me how important it is that these evenings of information arrive earlier in the process.”
The councillor was able to address citizens' concerns by proposing amendments to the project which asked the developers to keep the trees on the edge of the property that separate the land and the neighbors' backyards. They also agreed to abide by the same rules that the others in the neighborhood had followed when building their homes, in terms of exterior colors.
Miron states that in addition to an established citizen consultation procedure there also needs to be a better system for getting the information to the councillors and then to Gatineau residents when a development project is proposed. According to the councillor, often she does not find out about the project much earlier than the citizens.
The city has created a committee to re-evaluate these processes, and they are currently working toward proposing new guidelines for public consultations. The final proposal to the municipal council is scheduled for February 2025.