After more than a year since the city of Pointe Claire launched its public consultation process following the adoption of a development freeze in key areas in the municipality to allow the public to weigh in on how and how much development should be allowed, one question is emerging: Why hasn’t the consultation process focused public discussion on these specific areas.
These areas include the woods known as Fairview Forest; the Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre parking lot, where Cadillac Fairview has proposed building a 20-storey seniors complex and two 25-storey apartment buildings; areas along St. Jean Boulevard; and the Pointe Claire and Valois villages.
“Almost one-and-a-half years later, we haven’t had a city discussion on any of these areas,” said resident David Johnston, who has attended three of the five consultation sessions that have been held so far.
The process to date has not given “citizens the opportunity to talk about what everyone wants to talk about,” Johnston said.
The five session held so far have dealt with general topics that include mobility and transportation; strategies that involved renovating homes, the transformation of underused commercial and industrial properties and the acquisition of vacant lots for redevelopment.
None of it has touched on issues like the height of high-rises, the redevelopment of commercial zones or what would be the cost of possibly acquiring Fairview Forest, Johnston said in an interview.
Last week, Johnston put his questions to council at the April 2 meeting.
“I think we need polling assisted by information that teases out the degrees of public opinion,” Johnston told council, explaining that it is clear that residents are divided, but it is still not known to what degree there is support for issues like a complete ban of development in Fairview Forest, partial development of the wooded area, development on the parking lot at Fairview mall in exchange of preservation of some or all of the neighbouring forest, and the potential of development across from Fairview at the Maxi shopping plaza.
And there are other questions, he says, including the eventual fate of the Pointe Claire Plaza property and other areas of the city that have been included as part of the building freeze.
Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas pushed back. He disagreed with Johnston’s assessment.
“A lot of these consultations have been very positive and well conducted and the citizens have come away satisfied, which is, in the end, the objective,” Thomas said.
In an interview earlier this week, however, Thomas admitted that he is disappointed with what he called “the lack of specificity” of the consultations.
“I would have liked it to be more specific on height, greenspaces, the waterfront,” he said, adding the size of homes, specifically new homes being built, is another issue.
The city has promised to host an additional session that will focus on Fairview Forest. A date has not yet been set.
However, Johnston raised concerns about the possible scope of that session.
“We can’t consult on it in isolation,” Johnston told council last week, referring to the woodland. “Any consultation on the Fairview Forest has to be in conjunction with the mall property because I see them as two parts of a whole of one development project that has been presented by Cadillac Fairview.”
Johnston continued: “At the same time, I think it’s important that a number of other dimensions be brought to the debate. It would be nice if the consultation on Fairview Forest and (the neighbouring mall property) had with it a component that summarized where we are in the courts.”
In an interview, Johnston highlighted a number of other issues he said citizens should be informed on, including the significance of the permit issued by Environment Quebec to Cadillac Fairview to build in Fairview Forest and the cost of possibly saving the forest from development given that it is right next to the REM commuter rail station.
Although the consultations can be criticized for the lack of specificity, Thomas said, people are expressing themselves.
“They’ve been effective,” Thomas said, referring to the consultation sessions and online survey that have been conducted. “People have come out and spoken.”