{"id":6571,"date":"2025-06-11T20:09:40","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T20:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/?p=6571"},"modified":"2025-06-11T20:14:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T20:14:46","slug":"pointe-claire-risks-losing-control-of-its-urban-development-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2025\/06\/11\/pointe-claire-risks-losing-control-of-its-urban-development-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Pointe Claire risks losing control of its urban development plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Robert Frank<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Pointe Claire proves unable to comply with the Montreal Metropolitan Community\u2019s (CMM) new master urban development plan (PMAD) passed June 9, it risks having Montreal or another higher authority unilaterally impose its own vision of densification and intensification on the leafy Montreal suburb, warned Councilor Brent Cowan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny community that does not come up with its planning program by that deadline, it will be done for them,\u201d explained Cowan, who announced June 11 that he intends to run for mayor in the upcoming municipal election, November 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHigher levels will rewrite our planning program for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pointe Claire implemented a moratorium on virtually all development in 2022 soon after the election of incumbent Mayor Tim Thomas in November 2021. The city initially committed to a two-year process to come up with a new urban development plan, and Thomas subsequently suggested expediting public consultations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to expedite the consultative process,\u201d Thomas stated in an interview, February 22, 2022. \u201cI want it this fall, not next fall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas claimed at a subsequent city council meeting that he had been \u201cmisquoted\u201d about accelerating municipal deliberations. The city has since failed to come up with its own urban development plan nearly a year after its original, self-imposed summer 2024 deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the winter of 2023, I asked these questions because I could see that we were not going to make that deadline,\u201d Cowan recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that the CMM has passed its PMAD, the Montreal Agglomeration has two years to amend its zoning rules accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cowan suggested that Pointe Claire residents have more to gain if they retain control of the new zoning rules that apply to the entire Montreal region, rather than letting others dictate them. He highlighted opportunities to foster environment-friendly construction within walking distance of the city\u2019s mass-transit hubs\u2014known as transport-oriented development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe law allows the city to determine site planning and architectural integration,\u201d he observed. \u201cEven if a [proposed] project conforms to zoning that we will be obliged to comply with, such as a high-rise apartment that no one wants there, if we adhere properly to the law, then we can say \u2018No, until you do this, that and the other thing.\u2019 And then get the developer to modify his project so that it becomes more socially, environmentally and architecturally acceptable. We can create that power for ourselves now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe current mayor isn\u2019t doing his job,\u201d Cowan suggested. \u201cHe\u2019s more concerned with selfies. That approach didn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: handout <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Robert Frank If Pointe Claire proves unable to comply with the Montreal Metropolitan Community\u2019s (CMM) new master urban development plan (PMAD) passed June 9, it risks having Montreal or another higher authority unilaterally impose its own vision of densification and intensification on the leafy Montreal suburb, warned Councilor Brent Cowan. \u201cAny community that does<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPointe Claire risks losing control of its urban development plan - Newscoverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2025\/06\/11\/pointe-claire-risks-losing-control-of-its-urban-development-plan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pointe Claire risks losing control of its urban development plan - 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