Consequently, real estate developers will have to align with the council’s vision of the future development of Granby. Under penalty of seeing their projects refused.
Numerous real estate files, submitted in recent months, unnecessarily call upon the Town of Granby’s Land Planning and Protection Department (SAPT), because they do not fit with the council’s vision.
Municipal councilor Paul Goulet (Stéphane Champagne/Archives La Voix de l’Est)
“Projects totaling 9,000 doors are currently being analyzed by SAPT. “It’s the pressure there is in the machine, and it comes from the fact that people want to build in Granby, which is extremely positive,” specifies Mr. Goulet, municipal councilor responsible for development, of protection of the territory and housing.
To remedy this, the City is offering them a Developer’s Guide, which was presented during the Housing Forum at the end of November.
Promoter’s Guide
This presents an analysis grid to real estate developers who will be able to judge, among other things, whether their project is adequate for the sector of the territory where they plan to build.
“This promoter’s guide prioritizes and marks [le développement du périmètre urbain] so that the [promoteurs] understand how we want to develop the city,” explains Paul Goulet.
The objective is also to relieve the municipal machine.
“We want them to stop submitting projects which, systematically, consume time to be analyzed even though they are not a priority in relation to the areas we want to develop,” continues the advisor, in an interview with The Voice of the EastWednesday.
New tools
The Territorial Planning and Protection Department, if it is not overheated, is nevertheless under “exponential pressure”, which is already working on plans for adaptation to climate change, reduction of gases in greenhouse effect, or even protection of natural environments.
The City’s recent housing strategy aims to reduce this pressure.
This strategy is accompanied by several tools — notably the densification plan, the housing policy and the developer’s guide — which more precisely identify the City’s vision for future residential development.
“With these new tools, we want to send a very clear message,” warns Mr. Goulet.
“We no longer want to be left behind by developers who come to tell us how we should develop our city.”
— Paul Goulet, municipal councilor responsible for land use planning
According to him, these new guidelines are extremely positive for promoters.
“This now allows promoters to save time and money by avoiding submitting projects that do not fit.”
“Everyone was waiting for this”
On the promoters’ side, an initial positive reaction suggests a good reception of the new Guide.
“Knowing the procedure to follow, everyone was waiting for that,” assured The Voice of the East Jean-François Arsenault, CEO of the Holocie coop, on the sidelines of the Housing Forum, at the end of November.
«[C]This guide allows promoters to verify for themselves the conformity of their project with municipal guidelines, right from the design phase.”
— Promoter’s Guide, p.5
To be compliant, future projects will have to be integrated into a “complete living environment”, that is to say “where it is possible to reside and carry out the majority of one’s daily activities”, we can read on page 12 of the document. “[L]establishing interesting living environments [comprennent] the presence of green spaces and parks, access to shops and services, the [proximité] employment centers, schools and sports and cultural facilities.”
Urban sprawl and “pockets of poverty”
The City plans to concentrate residential development on its territory within the urban perimeter, of which only 1% of land is still vacant.
Therefore, instead of developing from available land, the City is instead considering redeveloping where buildings are already built.
“We want to stop urban sprawl. That’s clear.”
The municipal council first wants to optimize the sectors where there are already “services” (aqueducts, sewers, police).
The City thus wants to “revitalize the city center,” according to Paul Goulet, by allowing greater densification of its population.
“We want to allow for height in the city center and in the Galeries de Granby sector.”
— Paul Goulet
The advisor indicates that this addition of “a critical mass of population”, in addition to contributing to economic dynamism, will “also break down pockets of poverty”.
Questioned by The Voice of the East on what he meant by “breaking pockets of poverty”, Mr. Goulet clarified that the City wanted to bring diversity to the very poor neighborhoods of the city center.
However, it is not a question of “making gentrification [embourgeoisement, NDLR]“, he assures.
The affordable housing projects of the Holocie coop are often cited as an example by the City. Here we see Jean François Arsenault, CEO of the Holocie coop, in front of a vacant lot on rue Gill, where a real estate project is in preparation. (Stéphane Champagne/Archives La Voix de l’Est)
“We are not trying to get the poor out of the city center,” he argues. We believe a lot in diversity [sociale]to integration. In our strategy, we want to provide affordable, social housing.”
It evokes Centre, Gill, Saint-Charles, Saint-Antoine streets.
“These are all sectors that will be redeveloped and which will change the face of Granby in the coming years.”
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