Vaudreuil-Dorion abandons its affordable housing project in a flood zone

Photo: Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir The mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Guy Pilon (right), criticizes the Ministry of the Environment for its “improvisation” in the draft regulation on flood zones.

Clémence Pavic

Published at 16:01

• Regions

Vaudreuil-Dorion will ultimately not be moving forward with an affordable housing project in a flood zone. The city’s municipal council made the announcement in a press release on Friday. Earlier this week, the office of Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette called the move “irresponsible.”

The Vaudreuil-Dorion city council will submit a proposal at its November 18 meeting to repeal the conditional use authorization for Esther-Blondin Park. The park was to accommodate a three-storey residential building with 18 affordable housing units.

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Currently, only a portion of the land is classified as flood-prone. However, according to a preliminary map from the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM), the entire land would soon be considered at risk. This map is based on the draft regulatory modernization of flood zones, submitted by Quebec last June and which should come into force in 2025.

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Esther-Blondin Park, located on the shores of Lac des Deux Montagnes, presents three levels of risk, according to the CMM's preliminary map: moderate, high and very high. It would soon be prohibited to build a residential building in these three zones, under the Quebec draft regulation.

A criticized project

In an interview with DevoirEarlier this week, Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon said he did not want to wait for the Quebec City bylaw to come into force. “Here is our project. It is currently perfectly fine. We will build. We will even plan higher than necessary,” said the elected official.

When asked to respond, Minister Benoit Charette’s office disapproved of this approach. “Allowing the construction of buildings housing a large number of people—and affordable housing, since these are often people at greater risk of being in vulnerable situations—would be irresponsible,” the office stressed in an email.

In a press release issued Friday, Mayor Guy Pilon criticized the Ministry of the Environment for its “improvisation” in the draft regulation on flood zones. According to the CMM’s preliminary map, nearly 1,300 Vaudreuil-Dorion property owners will be affected by the regulatory changes.

Mr. Pilon emphasized that the Esther-Blondin Park land had been selected for the affordable housing project because the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion already owns it. “The goal was to transfer it free of charge [to the project promoter, the organization Toit d’abord], all in order to provide financing leverage for future affordable housing projects,” he emphasized.