Lafleur/Clément project triggers debates

The urban re-development project for the Lafleur/Clément area sparked a debate during Monday’s night council meeting. The project will transition from commercial to industrial zoning in order for the Borough to sell 200,000 square feet which it owns to a manufacturing company that plans to create one hundred new jobs.

A study was completed by the City of Montreal to determine which solutions were the best for facilitating traffic. One is the re-configuration of the Lafleur/Clément and the Clément/route138 interchanges. This solution would engage the City in reaching an understanding with the riparian owners to acquire the necessary lands for the project by mutual agreement or negotiation.

A merchant who will in the future be able to execute a purchase by mutual agreement/negotiation or by expropriation said that this arrangement would make his life difficult. The Mayor tried to reassure him. “You can run your business for as long you want, and we will try not to enlarge the road for as long as we possibly can. In the area covering Lafleur, Clément and St-Patrick, there is a great industrial zone already in existence. The City would like to extend it until the highway ramp because in this sector’s future development. If one is referring to a mutual agreement or in extremis, of expropriation, it won’t happen tomorrow. The important thing is to allow the construction of a company in expansion that will create one hundred jobs. If we were to enter into a mutual agreement, it will be for the enlargement of the road.”

Former councillor Oksana Kaluzny wanted to know the name of the new company but the Mayor replied that “at this time, we’re not prepared to disclose that information to the public.”