the face of Granby will change “drastically”

Councilor Paul Goulet said in particular that “the face of the City of Granby [allait] be called upon to change drastically” over the next ten years.

“Gentle” densification and protection of natural environments

Granby has targeted four sectors where it plans to increase residential construction.

First of all, there is the city center, where more than half of the future 5,500 housing units will be built.

The Galeries de Granby, Irwin and Guy/Robinson sectors are also destined to be densified (see photo below).

Densification will not happen randomly and must respect five main criteria, among which the protection of natural environments was mentioned several times by Ms. Bourdon.

The criteria of “living environment”, mobility, already built environment and municipal infrastructure will also determine the fate of future construction projects.

The emphasis will be on the “redevelopment” of already built-up areas. “We want to increase the supply of housing within the urban perimeter,” indicates Mayor Bourdon.

However, there is no question of building buildings “of 10, 20 or 30 floors everywhere,” assures the mayor. We adapt densification to the Granby scale,” explains Ms. Bourdon.

We are rather talking here about “soft” densification, made up of six-storey buildings, such as that of the Mission Unitaînés project on Court Street, where the announcement was made, but not only that.

“Sometimes, it could be the increase in semi-detached or row houses,” she explains.

A “historic” housing strategy

This housing strategy is “historic”, underlines the mayor, it being the first of its kind to be adopted in Granby.

In the midst of a housing crisis, with a “historically low” apartment vacancy rate, “we wanted to equip ourselves with important tools that would meet these needs,” said the mayor.

This strategy is made up of three tools, namely a housing policy, a densification plan — “the first in Quebec,” she specifies, and a special urban planning plan (PPU) specifically targeting the city center.

“These tools will help the municipal council in its decisions on how we will develop our city for the next ten years.”

— Julie Bourdon

“This vision has already been applied for several months in the various housing projects taking place in the territory of Granby,” adds the first magistrate of the City.

The City thus wishes to “help develop the city center, both culturally, economically and in terms of housing”.

Same pace of construction as currently

We plan to build 5,500 housing units in the next ten years, including 750 new affordable and social housing units – those that have already been announced are not included in the announcement made Thursday morning.

Of these 5,500 units, 30% will be built in already built areas.

“We find it important to redevelop our territory, as we did with the Mission Unitaînés on rue Court, with the former Miner swimming pool on rue du Parc, and possibly with the Cresswell,” insists the mayor of Granby.

Both young families and elderly people will be taken into account, it is said.

If these objectives are described as “ambitious and necessary”, they correspond overall to the current pace of construction for two or three years, according to Julie Bourdon, questioned by The Voice of the East on this subject in the press scrum.

Priorities, and Main Street

Julie Bourdon clarified what the priorities of this housing strategy were: attracting young families, supporting the construction of social and affordable housing, ensuring social diversity and creating sustainable, accessible living environments that are well connected to communities. essential services.

The special urban planning plan for the city center is the tool of choice to revitalize Principale Street “revitalize our commercial offer and keep our businesses alive,” predicts Ms. Bourdon.

With this city center PPU, we also want to “rehabilitate underused land”, improve cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

“Granby is at a turning point in its development, […] our city remains attractive, we receive a lot of requests from developers. […] But we don’t want to develop willy-nilly.”

— Julie Bourdon

“We want to meet current needs as well as those of future generations, by preserving our natural environments,” she explains.

Tools improved by the population

Municipal councilor Paul Goulet, responsible for housing issues, recalled that the two plans and the policy forming part of this housing strategy have benefited greatly from citizens’ reflections.

In fact, the population of Granby was called upon last year to express themselves on the subject during public consultations.

“These people contributed to improving [ces outils d’urbanisme]he emphasizes. It would be wrong to claim that these projects emanate solely from politics. I thank the people who supported us, both citizens, merchants and the community.”

Housing Forum

A housing forum will also be held this fall, on November 22. It will not be open to everyone, as it is intended primarily for real estate developers.

A promoter’s guide will also be given to them on this occasion.