By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
A busy few weeks are ahead in Sutton as the municipality moves ahead with consultations on its draft urban plan, tabled at the Aug. 6 council meeting. The plan aims to thread the needle between encouraging residential development; taking measures to protect agricultural, recreational and environmentally sensitive land; and protecting the area’s fragile water table – tested earlier this month when a water shortage forced town staff to truck water to the Mountain sector.
The new draft urban plan, the product of about four years of consultation and preparation, would set aside an additional 1,864 hectares of land for conservation, create a new protected agroforestry designation covering the existing agricultural zone, and set aside forested land adjacent to the Villa Châteauneuf for conservation – a move that Mayor Robert Benoit acknowledged was not only to preserve the land itself, but to put to rest rumours that his administration wanted to use it for a housing development.
The plan would maintain the existing moratorium on new builds in the Mountain sector due to ongoing problems with drinking water provision, which the mayor said would not improve anytime soon. “This year was the worst year – it’s getting worse because of climate change,” he said. “The only solution is really to pump water from the water in the valley, in the village. But that … was evaluated at about $20 million. How do you finance this investment of $20 million with an operating budget of $16 million per year? That’s quite a challenge for the city.”
“Following the identification of optimal solutions [to the drinking water problem in the Mountain sector], the implementation plan provides for the establishment of a specific urban plan, in
consultation with the public, that will define residential projects and related activities, while preserving the mountainsides and landscapes in compliance with the characteristics of natural and built environments and the capacity of public utility and road infrastructures,” town officials said in a statement.
The draft plan prioritizes new builds in the Village sector, where the water table is in better shape, including on the former Vieux-Verger property. In 2023, an affordable housing project heavily promoted by Mayor Robert Benoit’s administration on the site of a former vineyard hit a roadblock when voters rejected a $1.57 million borrowing bylaw through a register. Benoit explained that after the register, the land’s current owners decided to keep it – rather than ceding it to the city – and move ahead with a housing development project of their own, which will be presented to residents at a public consultation on Aug. 28. He had few details about the project, but said it would most likely involve more housing units than the project pitched by the city, and that construction could begin as early as this October if there was sufficient public buy-in.
Vieux-Verger is among several “priority lots” held in reserve by the municipality for future residential construction; according to the draft plan, 70 per cent of land on those priority lots needs to be set aside for residential development before development outside the priority lots can be considered.
With a view toward scaling up residential construction, the town has created three subcategories of residential zoning based on density – “discrete densification” aims to add accessory housing units to existing residential buildings without changing the volume of the
Buildings; “gentle densification” encourages a slight increase in current density in
certain sectors while preserving their architectural character; and “moderate densification” allows for the addition of multi-residential buildings with the aim of increasing housing
supply, particularly affordable housing.
The town also plans to expand the existing industrial zone at the intersection of Principale, Schweizer and Scenic Streets and encourage the arrival of businesses “in harmony with Sutton’s economic identity,” focused on recreation or agriculture, Benoit explained. A new recreational tourism zoning designation will be created for Mont Sutton and the Huttopia campground, allowing further development under certain conditions. A creation and innovation hub focused on agriculture, food security and energy independence initiatives will also be set up on the grounds of the former Golf des Rochers Bleus.
Residents can consult the draft urban plan on the city website or access a paper copy in English or French at the town hall or the public library. They can submit written feedback to urbanisme@sutton.ca until Sept. 10 or make an appointment to discuss the plan in person. An official in-person public consultation will be held Sept. 11. From Sept. 12-19, adjustments may be made to the plan following public comments. The finalized plan is expected to be adopted at the Oct. 1 council meeting.