MUNICIPAL. The City of Drummondville is updating its urban plan, a long-term exercise which is already having concrete results in the area.
“Drummondville is a city that has been merged. We made town planning regulations. We mixed it all together. At a given moment, we have to stop and ask ourselves which regulations are still current to have the desired impact on the development of our territory,” says Mayor Stéphanie Lacoste.
“What could make it easier to break ground, among other things, for housing? It remains a priority for the City. We have not yet reached equilibrium at the market level. We want to ensure that what we are now putting forward in urban planning really has an impact in achieving our objectives,” she continues.
The update of the urban plan, the last version of which dates from 2012, was started two years ago. Initially, the municipal administration carried out internal reflections as well as information collection. The Director General of the City, Francis Adam, affirms that a “good cleaning” has been carried out so far in the urban planning tools and regulations, in collaboration with the municipal council.
Some reductions have been made so far. As a new feature, on the City’s website, it is possible to make a new permit request online using a work declaration. Several specific projects are included, such as a warehouse of 12 square meters or less, a stoop, a gallery, a balcony, a veranda and a terrace in the backyard or even a chicken coop and exterior parquet flooring (residential).
“You agree to follow the rules. You check. There is someone who will respond to you within a fairly short time. You are authorized to do the work based on the complaint. It makes life easier,” says Francis Adam.
Moreover, the first magistrate mentions that the latest permit issuance reports were “very positive”.
Mandates to specialized firms will be awarded during 2025 in order to better support the teams through updating the urban plan. An amount of $270,000 was reserved for this purpose in the latest three-year capital expenditure program 2025, 2026, 2027.
Note that the end of the project is scheduled for 2027.
“We know that the growing trend is to spread out less and become more dense. Our urban plan should reflect this,” mentions Francis Adam.
