JOSHUA ALLAN
The 1019 Report
The Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal is looking to dramatically increase residential density in all 11 of the municipalities in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region that are part of the regional authority’s territory, according to its new regional development plan unveiled last month.
The plan sets a minimum target density of 36 dwellings per hectare by 2026 for all municipalities in the region. That target will increase to 46 dwellings per hectare by 2046.
Although these targets are a significant increase from the levels outlined in the current development plan, they represent a dramatic five- to eight-fold hike from the reality of housing density that actually exist in towns like Hudson and St. Lazare in the next two decades.
For example, in St. Lazare, the second largest municipality in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region, existing housing within the urban perimeter of the town stands at 4.9 dwellings per hectare, according to the CMM.
Some areas outside this village core, however, according to Mayor Geneviève Lachance, have a housing density of 1.2 to 2.7 dwellings per hectare, while in parts of the east end of the town, the ratio is about 16 dwellings per hectare.
In the current CMM development plan, the target has been set at 16 to 20 dwellings per hectare in much of the municipality, while the new proposed plan would see that benchmark rise to 36 units by 2026, and jump to 46 units per hectare by 2046.
In Hudson, the residential density is now at 4.5 units per hectare in the town’s urban perimeter. In the current plan, the minimum is 16. This target would increase to 36 units per hectare by 2026 and 46 units by 2046.
In parts of the 11 CMM municipalities in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region that are designated public transit hubs — or Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) zones — the ratios would be even higher. These zones are located around the train stations in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Pincourt, Terrasse Vaudreuil and Île Perrot. In these zones, the housing ratio would be set at 40 to 100 dwellings per hectare. This would more than double the number of people in Vaudreuil-Soulanges area who live near an Exo train station.
“The revised (development plan) aims to create a complete and sustainable living environment,” said Laurence Pelletier, a research consultant for the CMM’s sustainable and prosperous communities department.
Pelletier added the recommendations included in plan, commonly referred to by its French acronym PMAD, including increased density in TOD zones, would “contribute to resolving the housing crisis while protecting the agricultural zone and conserving natural environments of interest.”
TOD zones include areas within a one-kilometre radius around a transit hub. Concentrating development in these zones is part of the CMM’s objective to reduce urban sprawl and encourage more residents to choose public transit over taking a car.
Does this increased density mean that residents of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Pincourt and L’Île Perrot should expect to see high-rise apartment complexes built near the train stations within the next few decades?
Not necessarily, according to Pelletier.
“The PMAD does not impose any height, lot coverage or dwelling dimension,” she explained, adding that the objective will depend on the “different standards established by the cities.”
She gave an example of a four-storey apartment building with apartments each at about 1,000 square feet in size. Such a structure, she explained, would more than meet the density requirement of 100 dwellings per hectare in a TOD zone.