BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The town of Hudson will host a series of public consultations sessions beginning tomorrow as it gets set to adopt its long-awaited planning bylaws that aim to limit how and where development can be carried out in the municipality.

The two bylaws put forward by Hudson council earlier this month comprise a major planning reform that seeks to protect the town’s existing tree canopy and limit construction throughout the municipality, but most specifically in four of its the largest undeveloped areas, including the Sandy Beach area and the zone that is slated for Phase 2 of the Willowbrook residential development in the east-end Como district along Main Road.

“This is a huge step for all of us,” said Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison in officially unveiling the proposed overhaul of the town’s planning guidelines.

“The purpose of the consultation is to explain the content (of the draft bylaws) and the changes that are involved,” Hutchison said.

“We want to do this with the buy-in of the population,” she added.

In the works for a little more than two years, the proposed bylaws, once formally approved, will trigger the lifting of the second of two building freezes that has been in place since 2022.

See HUDSON, Page 8.

HUDSON: Development not
banned in Sandy Beach area

From Page 1

As the drafts outline, development will not be banned outright in undeveloped areas, including in the Sandy Beach area, where a previously proposed 214-unit housing project has sparked major opposition in the town. The developer behind that project is currently awaiting a ruling from the Tribunal Administratif du Québec on whether a move by Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette to withdraw a permit to allow backfilling of wetlands on the site will stand.

The new guidelines focus on strict rules governing the protection of trees, restrictions on cutting a detailed list of 191 specifically identified “remarkable trees,” the banning of filling in wetlands for residential development projects and the protection of wetland buffer zones. The bylaws also introduce a series of financial contributions to a parks and natural areas fund by landowners seeking to construct and renovate buildings or subdivide lots.

To explain all the details and implications and solicit feedback, the town has engaged professional consultants to carry out a series of public information sessions. These sessions will also provide an opportunity for residents to voice their opinions that will be considered with the aim of possibly amending the proposed bylaws.

The feedback from residents, Hutchison said, will serve as a barometer on “how well we’ve done and whether we should be doing more.”

After the consultation sessions council will consider amendments to the proposal.

Councillor Mark Gray, who has been active in the grassroots group to save the wetlands in the Sandy Beach area from development, said he would have been more aggressive in imposing stricter restrictions, but qualified the draft as “a good balance that will be accepted.” He would be open to hearing if residents want restrictions to go further.

When questioned about how the new rules do not totally restrict residential development in the Sandy Beach area, Gray said: “If we can’t buy it, at least we have a framework in place to limit the damage (to the environment).”

The first two of three public information sessions on the proposed changes are scheduled for tomorrow, Jan. 25, from 7 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 27, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the community centre.

On Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m., the town will host what is being touted as a public feedback session, where residents are invited to discuss and ask questions about the proposed bylaws.

The next day, Feb. 1, marks the beginning of a two-week public consultation period, which includes an online questionnaire for residents to provide feedback. This input will be submitted to council and will be taken into consideration, Hutchison said.

In March, Hudson council will make another presentation highlighting the feedback received. A final version of the bylaws will be presented for adoption by council in April. The next step will be to send the approved legislation to the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges for its approval before the bylaws will be put in force.