Pointe-Claire council passes resolution to kickstart talks on Cadillac Fairview development

With a vote of 6-to-1, city council in Pointe-Claire, Que., decided to take the first step in a contentious debate.

A resolution was passed to begin discussions with Cadillac Fairview about the development and preservation of its properties.

“The idea is to talk to Cadillac Fairview, organize with them, hopefully to their satisfaction, a way to bring them to the table, and with the public,” said Pointe-Claire city councilor Brent Cowan. “They both ought to both be at the table.”

Cadillac Fairview has big plans to develop a parking lot next to Fairview Pointe-Claire as well as a private forest, known as the Fairview Forest, across the street from the mall.

Last February, Pointe-Claire Mayor Tim Thomas initiated an interim control bylaw – which put a temporary freeze on a few properties in the municipality, including the parking lot and the forest – to give the city a chance to draw up an urban plan and have citizens weigh in through public consultations.

A few months later, the Montreal Metropolitan Community adopted an interim control bylaw of its own and also opted to protect the forest.

Those who have been fighting to save the green space for years say considering the two freezes, and the fact that the city’s urban plan has yet to be drawn up, it is difficult to understand why the majority of council wants to sit down with the developers.

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“We have major concerns and we really hope there will be transparency in the future about what options were presented and if the public is gonna have a say about what options are gonna be accepted,” said Geneviève Lussier, spokesperson for Save Fairview Forest.

Thomas says the resolution is a first step in what will probably lead to removing Cadillac Fairview from the city’s temporary development freeze.

“My preference would be to have the citizens determine what their city will look like and then take that determination or framework to the developer and have them adapt or work within the citizens’ framework,” said Thomas. “But it’s going the opposite way.”

Pointe-Claire’s city manager will be the one to kickstart discussions with Cadillac Fairview.

Thomas says he hopes citizens will be able to get involved in the process sooner rather than later.